Armin Laschet, a German CDU foreign‑policy spokesman, castigated the European Parliament’s decision to have the European Court of Justice review the Mercosur trade agreement. “The Europeans have learned nothing from this week with Donald Trump” he told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (Friday edition). “With an EU Parliament that, in such a week, shows plain inability to recognise what is happening in the world, Europe has no future” he added.
Laschet argued that everyone must understand the need for larger markets to become more independent. He charged that the German Greens, left‑wing parties, and far‑right groups not only blocked the Mercosur pact but also failed to prevent it by allowing members of the European People’s Party, the Socialists and the Liberals to allow the blockage. “If the centre‑party MPs had voted together, it could have been prevented” he said.
He claimed the world has witnessed how incapacitated European decision‑making can be, pointing to what Trump said in Davos. Laschet said the parliamentarians in Strasbourg confirmed that “we Europeans are unclear, unable to act, and do not understand the global situation”. The gap between moral rhetoric and effective EU action, he added, is so wide that it leaves people frustrated.
After 25 years of negotiations over the Mercosur agreement, Laschet calls a further attempt to straighten out the legal status an “intellectual affront”. He warned that a complete collapse of the already signed agreement is not out of the question.
