Centrist French President Emmanuel Macron faced far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in a presidential debate on Wednesday night. And while the two couldn’t be more different in many aspects, they voiced similar opinions about free trade deals at the European Union level.
Called out for her EU skepticism, Ms. Le Pen said she no longer wishes to withdraw France from the bloc, but rather to change some of its rules. “I want to stay in the EU but make profound changes to it, in order to create a true alliance between European nations,” she said.
“There are a number of rules I don’t agree with, like the multiplication of free-trade agreements, in which we sell cars from Germany and sacrifice [French] farmers, the competition from Brazilian poultry and Canadian beef.”
In response, Mr. Macron reaffirmed his administration’s opposition to the Mercosur-EU deal, signed in 2019 but still waiting for ratification. “You mentioned something important: Brazilian poultry. I’d like to inform you that France opposed Mercosur [the trade alliance between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay] because I put a clause that holds [farmers from other countries] to the same standards as our own,” he fired back.
“We refused to allow this issue to advance because there was no commitment to the Paris Climate Agreements, no respect for biodiversity, and we have fought against imported deforestation.”
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