Brussels wins first in France’s chicken game on trade deal

Brussels wins first in France’s chicken game on trade deal

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Good morning and welcome to the Euro Express.

The EU trade ministers gathered in Brussels today to discuss the EU’s Trade transaction With other countries-many eyes will turn to France. We will give you a detailed description of why Paris postponed the two agreements until after next spring, as well as other topics that the ministers will discuss.

Reignite our Thursday profile tradition, and today we are paying attention Peter Fiala, He is likely to succeed Andrej Babis (Andrej Babis) as the prime minister of the Czech Republic-and he is very different from his predecessor.

As the months-long consultation process on the EU’s future defense and security strategy finally produced a draft document, I will unravel the so-called Strategic compass It’s all about.

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Talk about non-meat

Trade ministers are preparing a lively lunch as they discuss the EU’s recent lack of trade agreements.

Chicken and lamb are unlikely to appear on the menu because concerns about meat imports have prompted France Shelve plan Ending the talks with Chile and New Zealand, wrote Andy Bonds is in Brussels.

French President Emmanuel Macron (Emmanuel Macron), who will win the general election in April, does not want to be the headline news that cheap foreign food will bankrupt farmers.

Two diplomats told EuroExpress that he personally lobbied the European Commission President Ursula von der Lein to ensure that no agreement was signed before the poll was over. When Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the favorite leader of many European leaders outside the European Union, received the news, she canceled her plan to visit Brussels this month.

This has aroused strong opposition from other member states, who believe that the sensitivity of the French election may disrupt the decision-making round in Brussels in the next five months, especially when Paris takes over as chairman of the council on January 1.

A diplomat criticized the European Commission for agreeing to postpone the transaction. He said: “It will be very drastic.” “Trade is a capability of the EU. There is an authorization and the Commission should not be blocked by a member state.”

“What is the purpose of EU trade policy? We are good at opening negotiations, but not good at closing them,” another EU diplomat meditated.Comprehensive Investment Agreement between the EU and China Put aside When Beijing imposed sanctions on some members of the European Parliament.

Negotiations with the Southern Common Market, a trading group of South American countries, have Drag For more than a decade, Australians have been stagnated by Canberra’s decision to cancel the French Submarine contract Cooperate with the United Kingdom and the United States.

It adds a feeling that the EU’s smooth trade cruiser is covered with barnacles, which slows it down. As an opportunity to engage consumers who are increasingly hostile to globalization, EU leaders stated that they must ask overseas countries to improve labor and environmental laws.

The parliament and many voters are pushing for more and more conditions in the deal on issues such as climate change and forced labor in non-EU countries. As the European Union tried to find a way for Brazil to commit to protecting the Amazon rainforest, the Mercosur transaction was postponed.

Today’s discussion includes a request from the Netherlands to debate with the support of Belgium, Luxembourg and France on how the EU can better implement sustainability provisions on labor rights and other issues in the countries participating in the negotiations.

“Does the Christmas tree have too many balls?” A festive diplomat wanted to know.

The new face of Prague

Petr Fiala contrasted sharply with the Czech prime minister he was about to succeed, writing Central European correspondent James Shotter of the Financial Times.

For the past four years, the country has been managed by Andrej Babis, a grumpy, outgoing billionaire who turned politician. But if everything goes according to plan, the next leader of this Central European country will be a moderately behaving former scholar who has written publications on everything from secularization to party theory.

However, like Babis, Fiala is a relatively late person politically.

The 57-year-old man with glasses started his political career in 2011 as the then prime minister’s chief scientific adviser and later became the non-party education minister. He only joined ODS, the largest party in the right-wing coalition, and he unexpectedly won the 2013 parliamentary election last month.

Petr Fiala may become the next Czech Prime Minister © AP

“He is not part of a political institution. He entered politics ten years ago… as a new generation,” said Milanick, a senior fellow at the German Council for Foreign Relations. “This will be a new style, and he seems to be consensus-oriented.”

He will need to be.

In order to expel Babis, Fiala’s three-party coalition cooperated with a second coalition formed by the mayor and independents and the Pirate Party. Between them, five political parties control 108 seats out of the 200 members of the Czech Republic. But keeping them together during the four-year term is not easy.

“I would say that they are all centrist or center-right parties. But there are different methods, more conservative or more liberal,” said Vladimira Dvorakova, a political scientist at the Prague University of Economics. “What may be a problem for Fiala is ODS itself. There are different factions, and for some people, Fiala is too gentle.”

Managing his alliance is not the only challenge Fiala will face.

Even before Fiala took office, there was speculation that President Milos Zeman, who had asked Fiala to lead negotiations for a new government earlier this week, might still oppose some of the proposed cabinet ministers, thus making the process complication.

Assuming that Fiala can manage this process, he will face small issues such as a surge in Covid-19 cases, soaring inflation, expanding budget deficits, and energy market issues. “He took over in a crisis,” Nick said.

Daily chart: Germanic anti-vaxxers

The graph shows that German-speaking countries have the highest proportion of unvaccinated people in Western Europe, although the proportion of poorer eastern regions is much higher. In the West, 22% of people aged 12 and over in Germany have not received any vaccines, 25% in Switzerland, 25% in Austria, 14% in Italy and the United Kingdom, and 8% in France and Spain.

Switzerland, Austria, and Germany — all German-speaking countries — are experiencing worse cases than their Western neighbors. (More here)

Fear of “strategic shrinkage”

Forget FOMO (fear of missing out). Brussels has proposed a new phobia: the fear that strategy is insignificant. Or as they said in the latest draft of the EU Strategic Compass that they saw in the European Express: “Prevent the main risks faced by the EU:’strategic contraction’, or there are always principles but rarely relevant risks.”

This “compass”-a defense and security strategy document-“is neither a crystal ball for predicting the future, nor a’silver bullet’ that allows Europe to magically formulate a common defense policy overnight,” the draft document reads. road.

Nonetheless, it made recommendations and assessments that will be discussed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday, with the aim of adopting a new strategy during the French presidency of the European Union in March-there is currently no Another Paris initiative There is very little support from the eastern and southern countries, and they worry that this will be seen as a side project that challenges or replicates NATO.

Here are some ideas from the “compass”:

  • Don’t call it the EU military: By 2025, the EU should establish a force of up to 5,000 soldiers, called the EU Rapid Deployment Capability-regular exercises starting in 2023, aimed at improving readiness and interoperability. (Not to mention the existing “battle groups” in the EU, which were created in 2007 and have already Never deployed.)

  • The navy stares: Next year, the European Union seeks to expand its coordinated maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific region and will organize regular naval exercises starting in 2023.

  • Cyber ??Musketeer: The EU will organize mutual assistance exercises in the event of armed aggression, including cyber exercises starting next year.

  • Define China: The strategy defines Beijing as a partner (climate change), economic competitor, and systemic competitor, benefiting from the split of the EU, shutting out European companies, and seeking to promote its own global standards. China “pursues its policies, including through its ever-increasing presence on sea, space, and the Internet.”

  • Zero-sum Russia: The draft described Moscow as “an important global player primarily based on zero-sum logic trying to expand the scope of its geopolitical influence.” The use of mixed tactics, cyber attacks and disinformation are “part of the reality of dealing with Russia.” The EU strategy aims to involve the country in the fight against climate change, while resisting aggressive behavior and limiting its ability to harm the interests of the EU.

What to watch today

  1. European Commission proposes autumn economic forecast

  2. EU trade ministers meet in Brussels

Noteworthy

  • Belarus sanctions: theme swear Expand sanctions on the country because it accuses Minsk of trying to destabilize its democratic neighbors by playing a “cynical” power game against immigrants on its borders with member states.

  • Brexit liquidation: Brussels Will extend Its temporary permit allows European banks to enter the UK clearing house, avoiding potential threats to financial market stability when the arrangement expires next summer.

  • Battle of Google: American Technology Group Yesterday Win the appeal In the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, a class action lawsuit regarding the tracking of personal data was blocked.However, in Luxembourg, the ordinary courts of the European Union Be fired The company appealed against a fine of 2.42 billion euros for anti-competitive behavior.

  • Covid vaccine: EU has Officially recognized The purchase of up to 60 million doses of Valneva’s Covid-19 vaccine within two years has facilitated the French company’s wealth After canceling the order in the UK.

  • Croatian raid: EU prosecutor Join hands Yesterday, the country’s anti-corruption detectives raided Zagreb’s regional development and the European Union’s Ministry of Funds, arresting four suspects of fraud.

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Today’s European express team: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter: @AndyBounds, @JamesShotter, @valentinapop.





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