Despite the recent blocking of the Mercosur agreement by German Greens in the EU Parliament, Katharina Dröge, head of the Green faction in the Bundestag, stressed the importance of trade policy and trade agreements before the Bundesvorstand’s conference. “We want the European Union to conclude further trade deals, for example with India, to send a signal of cooperation” she told the RTL/ntv programme ”Frühstart” on Monday. Although Dröge will not attend the Bundesvorstand meeting herself, she said the board’s deliberations would focus on the question of trade policy.
In the previous week the Greens’ approval in the European Parliament for a legal review of the Mercosur trade agreement drew sharp criticism. Their vote, which was largely made possible by the support of parties on the far left and the far right, could significantly delay the agreement’s entry into force. Dröge called the sign a “bad sign” on RTL/ntv and was glad that her colleagues in the EU Parliament now viewed the situation similarly. She pointed to the extensive debates at the European level, noting that the motion had also received support from conservatives, moderate MPs, social democrats and liberals, not solely from Greens.
Nevertheless, Dröge distanced herself from her own party’s voting pattern. “I say it very clearly: this should not have been decided like that” she added.
