Merz advocates for fresh trade accords and reduced guidelines for trade partners.
EU Leader Friedrich Merz championed fresh trade pacts for the European Union, advocating less associated conditions for trade partners. He expressed this during the Industry Day, stating, "The EU needs to boost its competitiveness, and that means concluding new free trade accords."
Merz emphasized that these free trade deals should not be bogged down by internal objectives such as labor rights or environmental protection. He shares the industry's perspective: The head of the German Industry Association (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, previously deemed it "idealistic" to impose European values in foreign countries via economic coercion. Rather, "practicality should take precedence over idealism."
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised at the BDI event to advocate within the new EU Commission for the signing of new free trade agreements. While he didn't explicitly support scrapping environmental protection and human rights stipulations, he did call for more pragmatism.
Both Merz and Scholz agree on prioritizing trade agreements where EU approval is sufficient, eliminating the need for ratification by individual member states. Merz considers this a significant step forward, stating, "This would indeed be progress. In Germany, securing the free trade agreement with Canada took seven years. How long will it take for agreements like Mercosur or others?"
The done deal trade agreement with the South American Mercosur nations is uncertain due to environmental objections and criticism from European farmers. The Ceta agreement with Canada is being temporarily enforced, but hasn't been ratified by all EU states. Regarding China, Merz stated, "There should be no escalation of a trade conflict." Both Germany and the EU should "do everything possible" to "avoid escalation."
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Merz suggested that future trade agreements should have fewer specifications related to labor rights and environmental protection, aligning with the industry's stance on practicality over idealism. In the context of Mercosur, Merz expressed the need to avoid trade agreement delays due to internal objections, advocating for EU-approved deals that don't require individual member state ratifications.
