Former German Foreign Minister and Green Party member Joschka Fischer says that Europe’s free‑trade deals with the Mercosur nations and with India are “of great geopolitical significance”. He told the Tagesspiegel (Thursday edition) that these partnerships are Europe’s way forward. While the economic impact of the agreements is “rather modest” right now compared with trade with the United States and China, Fischer believes it will grow over the long term.
He dismisses the farmers’ protests against Mercosur as “nonsense”. In his view, if industrial output were to decline, farmers would no longer be eligible for the state subsidies that are crucial to them. “It is therefore in their own interest, as well as in Europe’s, that such agreements secure the continent’s economic future” Fischer added. He respects the contributions of farmers and farmers’ unions, but argues that Europe’s future lies in industry, services and the digital sector.
Finally, Fischer called the votes of Green Party Members of the European Parliament to subject the Mercosur accord to review by the European Court of Justice a “serious mistake” that he cannot understand.
