Franziska Brantner, the chair of the German Greens, sharply criticized how many of her party’s members in the European Parliament voted on the Mercosur trade agreement. She called the vote “a mistake” and said that in today’s geopolitical climate we need reliable partners and new markets. For this reason, she has always campaigned in favour of the deal.
Brantner explained that her colleagues in Strasbourg should have focussed instead on creating legal certainty and clarifying open questions for national parliaments. She added that, on the day when European solidarity against Trump was paramount, the vote sent “a completely wrong signal”. She warned that it must not happen again that majorities are formed with right‑wing and far‑right forces.
In a separate remark, the co‑party chair confirmed that German Greens, even within the European Parliament, will support the provisional application of the agreement. ”While I would be genuinely outraged if Mercosur were blocked entirely-if people were strictly against it and also rejected the provisional application-” she said, “the vote itself was wrong”.
