Customs duties: a motion for a resolution tabled in the National Assembly against the EU-US trade agreement

A motion for a resolution calling on the French government to oppose the trade agreement concluded on Sunday between the European Union (EU) and the United States has been tabled in the National Assembly by MP Emmanuel Maurel (Democratic and Republican Left).

The text, submitted on Wednesday and published on the Assembly's website on Thursday, July 31, has already been signed by around twenty MPs ranging from the left to the MoDem. Mr. Maurel told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he is continuing to solicit parliamentarians to support his approach.

In this motion for a resolution, the Assembly calls on the government to "inform the European Commission of its opposition to the draft economic and trade agreement between the European Union and the United States" and to "oppose this project" at the next meetings of the European Council.

The French political class was unanimous in denouncing the agreement reached on Sunday between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which includes a 15% increase in customs duties on European exports.

French President Emmanuel Macron lamented at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the European Union had not been "feared" enough in its trade negotiations with the United States, stating that France would continue to show "demand and firmness" in the future discussions.

Mr Maurel's motion for a resolution underlines, in its explanatory memorandum, that the French economy "risks being violently impacted" by this draft agreement, "especially since the Commission has committed to additional import quotas for American agricultural products" .

Among her arguments, she also notes that the Commission has committed to purchasing more arms from the United States, which constitutes "a direct attack on our economic and strategic interests" and is "contrary to the treaties" , because "the Commission has no right or mandate to negotiate, let alone conclude, arms contracts with foreign countries" .

The text also underlines that the Commission has committed to "making Europe dependent on the United States (...) for its energy supplies, through an intention to buy 750 billion euros of oil and liquefied natural gas from them ." But "energy supplies are the responsibility of the Member States" of the EU, insists the draft resolution.

"Under these conditions, it seems urgent that the French Parliament pronounce itself in unequivocal terms against the Trump-von der Leyen agreement," continues Mr. Maurel. The text also invites the government to ask the European Commission to "submit the draft agreement to a unanimous vote of the Member States in the Council, then to a vote in the European Parliament and to ratification by all the Parliaments of the Member States."