Indonesia is skeptical of the environmental conditions the EU imposes on trade deals. India was less interested in stopping the deal before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent election for a third term. France has led a campaign to stop the 20-year-old Mercosur agreement.
Scholz’s speech echoed comments he made to an audience of German businessmen earlier this week, in which he urged the bloc to strike an “EU-only” trade deal that would not be subject to ratification by national and regional parliaments. This process can take years. .
Splitting such agreements is a tried and trusted playbook that has already delivered agreements such as the EU-Chile trade deal. This would allow the EU Council and European Parliament to quickly process trade wins while separately ratifying other aspects of the overall deal, such as investment protection.
Scholz is also facing complex negotiations at home.
“We will submit a draft budget in July,” the prime minister said in a speech to the Federal Assembly, citing a national budget gap estimated at 40 billion euros.
The survival of Scholz’s government will depend on whether his parties can reach a budget agreement without major clashes following disastrous European election results in which the three members of Germany’s left-wing coalition together won 31% of the vote.
“Security has been strengthened. More cohesion. More growth. This is a priority for our country. But it is also a priority for the European Union,” Scholz said.
