“To be free, you have to be feared. We were not feared enough ”deplored Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday, July 30, in the Council of Ministers, according to comments reported by participants, concerning the commercial agreement concluded between the European Union (EU) and the United States.
The President of the Republic hammered that “France has always held a position of firmness and requirement [et qu’]She will continue to do so ” in the rest of the commercial discussions, adding: “This is not the end of the story and we will not stop there. »» The EU can get “New exemptions” during the discussions that will take place to “Formalize” the detail agreement, he noted, calling for “Work tirelessly in rebalancing[s] exchanges, especially in services ”.
The Head of State, joining his main European counterparts, however agreed that “Negotiations [avaient] been carried out in difficult conditions “ and that “The agreement [avait] the merit of providing visibility and short -term predictability ”. “It preserves French and European interests” on “Major exporting sectors” Like aeronautics, said Emmanuel Macron. EU also has ” day before “ that there is “No concession for [ses] agricultural sectors and no questioning of [son] regulatory autonomy, of [ses] health and environmental standards ”he greeted.
Strong criticism and concern
During a meeting in Scotland, the American president, Donald Trump, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, concluded on Sunday an increase in American customs duties by 15 %, on most of the European products imported into the United States. A lesser evil according to Brussels, to avoid commercial chaos.
But the agreement raises criticism on the left and on the right, including in the government and from François Bayrou. “It is a dark day that when an alliance of free peoples, gathered to assert their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission”, wrote the Prime Minister on Monday on the social network X.
Paris also deplored, Wednesday, the conditions under which the announcement of the agreement was made, by a triumphant American president. “We would have preferred all, government and president of the Republic, that this agreement takes place under the usual conditions of negotiations, that is to say in an official framework and not in a private golf course in Scotland”noted the government spokesperson Sophie Primas during the report of the Council of Ministers.
Mr. Macron’s words are involved in a climate of concerns in France for several exporting economic players and economic sectors, such as the pharmaceutical industry, wines and spirits or even the food industry.
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Discussions continue by sector. “We continue to negotiate with the Americans so that if possible spirits, perhaps wine, other sectors are exempt. It’s a work that is underway ”underlined the Minister of the Economy, Eric Lombard, Wednesday on RTL. French economic actors whose activity could be strongly affected by tariff measures are also received Wednesday afternoon in Bercy.
