A vote for nothing? On Tuesday, November 26, MEPs debate the future free trade treaty between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia). The text, negotiated by the European Commission, is widely criticized in France by farmers' organizations, which have organized several days of mobilization in recent weeks. In response, the political parties displayed rare unanimity on the subject, rejecting this text which notably provides for lowering customs duties on a certain number of imports.
The debate, scheduled from 3 p.m., is organized under article 50-1 of the Constitution. According to this article, “the government may, on its own initiative or at the request of a parliamentary group (…), make a declaration on a specific subject giving rise to debate and may, if it decides, be the subject of a vote without incurring responsibility”. A vote will be organized following the discussions, but it will be purely consultative, and nothing will oblige the government to follow the opinion of the deputies. Why, then, did you want to organize this debate?
Firstly because it was requested by several political groups sitting in the hemicycle. “It is legitimate that the National Assembly can express itself on the question (…) because it concerns all French people”declared government spokesperson Maud Bregeon last week on TF1. “It was unacceptable that an agreement could be applied without the Assembly having once voted”for her part reacted the boss of the La France insoumise deputies, Mathilde Panot, during a press conference.
The result of the vote, however, is likely to have little impact. Firstly because the government refuses to say too much about the consequences of a negative vote. LR MP Julien Dive questioned the Minister of Agriculture, Annie Genevard, during the government question session on November 19. “Are you ready to respect this vote and engage in a real standoff with the European Commission to defend our food sovereignty?” This debate “will be fruitful and believe me that we will be very, very mobilized on this issue”evaded the minister.
A massive vote by MPs against the EU-Mercosur agreement could still give credit to France in its exchanges with the European Commission, which wants to complete the negotiations in the coming months. Already in 2019, the Assembly had passed a resolution asking the government to vote against the agreement, LCP reported at the time. Paris then weighed in on the ongoing negotiations, without managing to stop them.
In the eyes of our European neighbors, the debate organized in the National Assembly appears above all as a question of national policy. Michel Barnier's government is relatively isolated in its head-on opposition to the future agreement within the EU and is unable to form a blocking minority within the member states. Thus, if the European executive decides to split the agreement in two, the commercial part could simply be adopted by qualified majority (i.e. 15 countries representing 65% of EU inhabitants) by the Council European. The text will then be examined by MEPs. If they give their approval, the agreement will then apply throughout the EU, customs policy not being the responsibility of the member states.
