Whether they are for or against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, most MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) want to know what the European Commission is planning. Many of them requested information from the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, on Monday 23 January, who spoke of “a political context favourable to the resumption of discussions”.
“On what basis do you intend to restart these negotiations? Specifically on climate change, deforestation? I think it is important to remember that a simple additional declaration is not enough, we need real commitments”, stressed Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe, French).
Her Spanish colleague from the same group, Jordi Cañas, known to be much more in favour of the agreement, shared his impatience to know more details: “You won’t convince the whole European Parliament, but you have to tell it what you want to do and how”, he said.
The members of the INTA Committee have been asking for months for more details on the much-discussed additional protocol on deforestation and sustainable development.
“It is high time to involve the Parliament, so that you are not surprised at the end if you do not have its support”, remarked Kathleen van Brempt (S&D, Belgian).
However, the European Commissioner remained silent on the content of the additional protocol.
The new Brazilian administration is more open to dealing with the issue of deforestation, he said. His services intend to consult the Member States and the Parliament on the additional protocol in the near future, he said.
EU trade policy is one of the four pillars that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has mentioned in terms of strengthening the EU’s competitiveness: she hopes to diversify trading partners to reduce, among other things, the EU’s dependencies in critical sectors and supply risks. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)