Ratification by the European Parliament uncertain
If under the European treaties, the Commission is the sole negotiator of trade agreements on behalf of the Twenty-Seven, the agreement signed this Friday must still obtain ratification by winning the approval of at least 15 Member States representing 65% of the population of the EU, then by bringing together a majority in the European Parliament.
A blocking minority can thus stop any ratification. It is now the fight initiated by Emmanuel Macron, who “reiterated” Thursday to Ursula von der Leyen that the draft trade agreement was “unacceptable as it stands” and that he intended to continue “to tirelessly defend our agricultural sovereignty.
After Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared at the end of November that he would not accept the project “in this form”, Italy joined the French refusal front on Thursday. However, to prevent the adoption of the text, France needs to rally three other countries representing more than 35% of the EU population, a threshold easily crossed if the support of Rome and Warsaw is confirmed at the time of the vote. And this declared trio is not alone, since Austria or the Netherlands have already expressed reluctance, to which Ireland could join…
