Trade deal rejected
Greens stand against Habeck and Co. at Mercosur.
By Sebastian Huld, Karlsruhe
November 25, 2023, 6:32 p.m
The federal government has been struggling for months for a trade agreement with Latin America, led by Federal Economics Minister Habeck and his State Secretary Brantner. But the base is rebelling. At the party conference in Karlsruhe, the delegates wrote a change in the European election program that was quite something.
Only a few countries have received as many visits from German government representatives in the past twelve years as Brazil. Since the election of President Lula, the country has not only been courted in the conflict with Russia, but is also a key partner for a central project of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck: to conclude the Mercosur trade agreement – with the large economies of Brazil and Argentina as key partners – as long as possible in the current year. But the party’s own base is opposed: at the federal party conference in Karlsruhe, 53 percent of the delegates voted for a proposed change to the European election program. It now says: “We reject the EU-Mercosur agreement in its current form.”
The Green federal ministers will not be bound to the election program if it is finally adopted on Sunday, especially since the EU agreement no longer has to be ratified by the member states. However, this does not make work in the federal government or the relationship between the party base and leadership any easier. Ultimately, the Green Party members should use the program to go into the European election campaign in the spring, with a paper that then contradicts the actions of their own federal ministers.
After federal chairmen Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour were elected for another term of office on Friday with scores of around 80 percent each and federal ministers Habeck and Annalena Baerbock received much applause, the Mercosur vote marks the first major dissent. A passionate debate is also expected in the evening when it comes to the Greens’ asylum policy.
Sanction options required
The modified program text now calls for renegotiations “in order to achieve fundamental changes for a fair, ecological and post-colonial agreement.” The authors particularly advocated that trade preferences granted can be suspended as a form of sanction if a partner state disregards social, environmental and climate commitments. This reflects the concern of advocates of the changes that the agreement could fuel deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, for example for the cultivation of soy products for export to the EU. Before the trade fair in Karlsruhe, activists from the environmental organization Greenpeace, natural allies for many party members, among others, called for a change from the Greens.
Before the vote, the Green party leader Katharina Dröge and Habeck’s responsible state secretary Franziska Brantner warned urgently against changing the original text. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had also argued earlier in the day that “trade agreements between value-based partners, between democracies and Latin American democracies can not only work, but are more than just a trade agreement.” Europe must forge new alliances in the global struggle with autocracies.
China instead of the EU?
“We don’t have any argument about it, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be persuaded to have one,” said Baerbock, only to find out hours later that there are indeed profound differences in the party on the subject. The Bundestag members Kathrin Henneberger and Karl Bär spoke in favor of the amendment. Because the subsequent hand vote was so close, ballot papers had to be counted. From Brantner’s point of view, implementing the requirement of the amended text in practice would be difficult: the Brazilians would not let the Europeans tell them how they should protect the rainforest, while Europe no longer has any virgin forest at all, said the Parliamentary State Secretary.
Dröge and Brantner also warned against leaving Latin America without the trade agreement to China, which does not take ecological and social standards into account in its economic relations. After the election of the populist Javier Milei as Argentine president, the Mercosur agreement is also in question. In addition to Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay also belong to the Mercosur states. In 2019, after almost two decades of negotiations, a fundamental agreement was reached that is intended to facilitate mutual market access and investments.
The Green Party leadership had harshly criticized the agreement for many years, but since joining the federal government, they believe they have been able to negotiate significant changes for the better in terms of environmental protection and social standards. That wasn’t enough for 53 percent of the party conference delegates.