Every Friday, in the show #OnVousRépond, Gilles Bornstein receives a political personality to comment on the news of the week and give a voice to spectators who can directly ask their questions to the guest. Friday February 2, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, RN deputy for the Somme, returns to this trade agreement which is fueling the anger of farmers.
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Jean-Philippe Tanguy, RN deputy for the Somme, was the guest on Friday February 2 on the interactive show #OnVousRépond. Asked about the Mercosur trade agreement, Jean-Philippe Tanguy said: “Europe is still the pigeon of the whole world. At the same time, there is an agreement with Chile, Kenya and New Zealand.”
Concretely, the Mercosur agreement plans to increase trade between the two common markets by removing 91% of taxes imposed on European products crossing the Atlantic and 92% of taxes imposed on products traveling the other way.
The future of the major free trade area remains uncertain
While anger is brewing among French farmers but Also European, the trade agreement under discussion for twenty-five years between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur remains uncertain. Conditions “are not united” to conclude the negotiations, the European Commission recognized on Tuesday. But talks between the 27, on the one hand, and a Latin American bloc which includes Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and soon Bolivia, on the other hand, will continue, Brussels assured Tuesday January 30, two days before a European Council in the Belgian capital.
Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron recalled Paris’ firm position with regard to this agreement, the rules of which are not “homogeneous with ours”. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, promised on Wednesday to initiate a “arm wrestling” with Brussels.
To sign its signature, France is asking for the addition of binding clauses which protect European farmers and breeders from unfair competition and limit imports from lower-priced partners in terms of the environment. All tendencies combined, from the FNSEA, the majority union, to the Confédération paysanne, French farmers are demanding a moratorium on free trade agreements.