The president of Medef in favor of an EU-Mercosur agreement, “giving himself time”
Patrick Martin, the president of the French Business Movement (Medef), was in favor of the EU-Mercosur agreement on Thursday, in the name of employment, in particular, while agreeing that we must “give time”.
“Are we ready to eliminate 20% of French jobs? »those who are concerned by the export sector, asked Mr. Martin on France 2, emphasizing that “if we close the borders to imports, the exporting country will close its own borders”.
“We need to give ourselves time and check that the four South American countries involved (…) respecting the minimum in environmental and social terms”. These are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Bolivia joined the Mercosur alliance in 2023.
Medef “shares many of the concerns of farmers about over-regulation and the degrowth strategy of certain European decision-makers”, assured Mr. Martin. But, in his opinion, on a “strongly needs Europe in the face of the United States, which is becoming very aggressive economically, and China”.
On Wednesday, in the context of farmers’ anger against this project, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, promised that France would engage in a “arm wrestling” in Brussels so that the agreement as it currently stands is not signed.