By sealing a deal at a summit of the Mersocur trade bloc — which comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia — von der Leyen is overriding the furious objections of France.
There, the entire political class has voted to condemn the deal that has been a quarter century in the making. In the end, a political crisis that led to the collapse on Wednesday of Michel Barnier’s government — the shortest-lived in the history of the Fifth Republic — sapped Paris of the power to stop the deal.
Meanwhile, Berlin has intensified its lobbying with von der Leyen — who is herself German — to get the agreement done. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met with the Commission chief to push for the deal to be signed this week.
The Franco-German clash over trade strategy could, if it escalates, cast into question the role of the EU executive as the lead negotiator in trade deals on behalf of the EU’s 27 member states, and the broader functioning of the bloc’s single market spanning 450 million people.
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Publish date : 2024-12-04 22:26:00
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Author : theamericannews
Publish date : 2024-12-05 12:15:18
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