EU wants to centralise talks on free trade deals

European Union member states can expect intense debates throughout the remainder of the talks on free trade agreements, as the bloc intends to centralise negotiations on and ratification of the agreements, a government official said after an informal meeting of EU trade policy officials in Brussels on Friday.

Hungary disagrees with the EU’s ambition to create a more centralised, federal bloc, as it believes that it is the diverse cultures and historical heritages of member states that can make the EU great, state secretary István Mikola told public media.

Member states must be allowed the opportunity to nurture their identities and cultures and try to make consensus-based decisions on issues like trade, free trade and other multilateral relations, he said.

At the same time, he said, Hungary agrees with the EU’s goal to speed up the establishment of free trade relations, all the more so because Europe has an interest in not falling behind in the global trade competition.

Source: MTI