Europe mobilizes to negotiate trade agreements worldwide

2/12/2020, 8:01:36 PM

The European Parliament ratified an EU-Vietnam free trade agreement on Wednesday. Brussels is discussing with the United States, China, Indonesia and Australia, while the starting positions on the future relationship with the United Kingdom augur inevitable tensions.

Vietnam may soon have more favorable trade conditions with the European Union than Great Britain. With Brexit, Europe is for the first time in its history confronted with a rupture - even an amputation - which will consist in negotiating a more distant relationship than before with an economic partner and immediate neighbor. The European Commission wants to show that it is not waiting to deepen commercial ties with more distant and yet friendly regions.

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The ratification of the agreement with Vietnam, this Wednesday in the Parliament of Strasbourg, had value of test. It had to be checked that the new Assembly, often picky on these questions, would not hinder the trade policy of the 27.

The ratification of the Mercosur agreement (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay), concluded on June 28, 2019, twenty years after the opening of negotiations, will be another twist. Emmanuel Macron withdrew his support for the project,