STRASBOURG (dpa-AFX) – During the debate about a motion of no confidence against the EU Commission over the Mercosur agreement, Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic promoted the pact in the EU Parliament. It was “a good deal for Europe,” said Sefcovic in Strasbourg. “We are building reliable partnerships,” he said, emphasizing the strategic importance of the deal. The agreement was signed in Paraguay on Saturday. It still needs to be approved by the European Parliament.
The motion of no confidence was supported by 110 members of right-wing factions in the EU Parliament. The signatories come from the far-right alliance PfE around Marine Le Pen’s French party Rassemblement National, the right-wing conservative EKR faction and the ESN faction, which includes the AfD, among others.
They criticize that the free trade agreement with the four Mercosur states Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay ignored the resistance of national parliaments, the European Parliament and European farmers. The agreement opens markets for products that do not meet European standards, it said. They also criticized the splitting of the text into two parts so that the commercial part could come into force more quickly.
The Greens and the Left also criticized the Mercosur agreement during the debate in the European Parliament, for example because it was not compatible with EU climate goals or was harmful to European agriculture. However, the MPs speaking at the debate, as well as those from the Christian Democratic EPP, the Social Democrats and the Liberals, opposed the right’s motion of no confidence.
It is the fourth attempt from the EU Parliament within around six months to remove the Commission under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen. A successful vote of no confidence would require a two-thirds majority, which is unlikely to happen. The debate late on Monday evening attracted significantly less interest than previous ones – only a few MPs were present. Not even the group leader of the initiators of the motion, Jordan Bardella from the PfE, took part./vni/DP/zb