00:00The ceremony to re-open Notre Dame Cathedral brought world leaders and some big names to
00:07Paris last Saturday. It was almost an unofficial summit where bilateral and even trilateral
00:13meetings were held. However, one important figure was missing. The President of the European
00:18Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was conspicuously absent from the prestigious occasion. She
00:24had been in Uruguay the day before to conclude a political free trade agreement with the
00:28South American countries of Mercosur, a text rejected by the French President. For some,
00:35von der Leyen is openly challenging Paris. For others, it was simply a scheduling problem
00:39that prevented her trip.
00:42There were scheduling issues. I have no information on the exact, what was exactly the scheduling
00:51issues, but that was the reason indeed. And as said, we had not yet formally confirmed
00:57the participation of the President.
01:00Ursula von der Leyen is criticized for announcing her trip to Montevideo at the last minute.
01:05But above all, this agreement comes at a time of political crisis in France, as the country
01:10is currently without a fully-fledged government. However, the French President's representatives
01:15in Brussels show that Emmanuel Macron still intends to prevent the text from being ratified.
01:23We have concrete issues that we raised a long time ago, so we continue to work on this
01:30and to show that, to really see that if the Commission moves forward on all this area
01:39or not. So, in fact, now, like I said, it's a new step. President Macron, but also French
01:47Minister will work on the Council level and me, I continue my job in the European Parliament.
01:55The political battle is far from over. The agreement must be ratified by the Member States.
02:01France is therefore trying to muster a blocking minority. If the capitals fail, Paris will
02:07have another opportunity to derail the text, since the Parliament also has to vote.
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