Covid Pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war have slowed down the trade activities globally. It is affecting business activities, and economic growth and is increasing inflation. Europe is also worried about the current situation. Fifteen European countries out of twenty-seven, i.e., the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Malta, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Portugal, Netherland, and Denmark, have forwarded a letter to Valdis Dombrovskis European Trade Commissioner.
They stated that the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have badly impacted the production & trade, employment, inflation, and economic growth. One job out of seven depends on trade in Europe, and this is a time for a wake-up call to protect the economy. They added that the EU should plan to boost free trade as the three nations, Australia, China & Japan, had signed an agreement with The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP), which came into force at the beginning of 2022.
In the past, the EU had negotiations about different contracts, but few of these could not get approved. EU contract with Mexico had been pending confirmation from the EU since 2018. EU has halted a trade agreement with members of the South American Trade block, also known as the Mercosur block, i.e., Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay. The problem is the Amazon deforestation for plantations.
France is the president of the EU, and it has delayed in processing the trade agreements due to elections of the EU; however, from 1st July, The Czech Republic will be the EU president. The Swedish government said that need to focus on priority measures to protect the environment and accelerate trade and economic growth with agreements regarding free trade. EU will overcome the problems occurring due to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
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