Merz calls on EU to work on free trade deal with CPTPP — Der Spiegel

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, during a visit to Singapore, called on the European Union to work on a major interregional free trade agreement with members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Der Spiegel reported this, citing the German chancellor's speech.

Proposal for the EU and CPTPP

In a policy speech, Merz said that the EU and the participants in the Trans-Pacific Partnership should jointly move toward concluding a large-scale agreement. The CPTPP includes 12 countries across five continents, home to nearly 600 million people. The partnership's members include Canada, Australia, Chile and the United Kingdom.

According to the chancellor, such an agreement would correspond to the realities of interconnected supply and production chains. He noted that together, the EU and CPTPP countries would account for more than one-third of global trade.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Agreements with Asian countries

Merz also advocated linking the EU's free trade agreements with individual countries to make them more effective. He mentioned Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Australia and Malaysia.

The chancellor named a free trade agreement between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a long-term goal. ASEAN brings together 11 Asian countries with a combined population of nearly 700 million people. Negotiating and concluding trade agreements on behalf of EU member states falls within the competence of the European Union, rather than the German government.