Wadephul: Mercosur vote is a “huge political blunder”.
Judicial review will further delay the trade agreement. Uncertainty will come at the cost of trust for Europe, Germany’s Foreign Minister has said.
Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has described as a “huge political blunder” the European Parliament’s decision to delay the Mercosur trade agreement between the EU and four countries in South America. Signed following years of negotiations, the agreement is now to be subject to judicial review following a majority vote by the European Parliament. Speaking to Deutschlandfunk radio, Wadephul characterised the decision as a “grave setback”. He argued that the vote would mean no less than “a considerable delay which will also cost political trust”.
The agreement with the Mercosur states of Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay and Uruguay was sealed last week after over 25 years of negotiations. It is designed to create one of the world’s largest free-trade zones with over 700 million inhabitants, and is intended to send a message to rebuff US President Donald Trump’s protectionist tariff policies. The removal of trade barriers and customs duties is intended to stimulate the flow of goods and services. However, the deal has been criticised in Europe, particularly by farmers.
“Other countries – such as India, with the largest population in the world – are looking very closely at whether we are able to negotiate deals of this kind, and then politically to carry them through across all institutions,” Wadephul said. He stressed that now what mattered was to make up the political trust that had been lost, by achieving new results and signing agreements with countries such as India.
