On France Inter: “For Europeans there is a strategic interest in signing this EU-Mercosur agreement”
On Sunday 1 September 2019, Yves Bertoncini, President of the European Movement – France was the guest of 6/9 on France Inter.
France Inter : The trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur has some lead in the wing. Emmanuel Macron but also other European countries do not want to ratify it as it stands. Do Europeans have a lot to lose if the agreement is not signed?
Yves Bertoncini: Europeans have an interest in signing in this context.
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed out, not signing this agreement will not improve the situation in the Amazon.
In addition, the signing of this agreement is a way of keeping Brazil in the process of signing the Paris agreements for the preservation of the climate and the environment. That this agreement is in the process of being ratified is one way of keeping Brazil in the European fold while it is being courted by Donald Trump’s America. There remains a strategic interest for Europe to sign this agreement, more political than economic. And that is why French President Emmanuel Macron, when he expressed his reservations, said that he could not sign the agreement as it stood. This does not exclude that the situation between France and Brazil may improve and that the signing of this agreement may be maintained in the medium term.
To understand the issues and debates surrounding the EU-Mercosur agreement, find the article by the European Movement – France on the subject.