June 13, 2017 | By: Ian Wishart.
European Union leaders are planning to use a summit next week to declare their commitment to global free trade and the Paris climate accord in a rebuff to U.S. President Donald Trump.The bloc’s 28 leaders will issue a statement rejecting protectionism and underlining that the Paris agreement is a “cornerstone for global efforts to effectively tackle climate change, and cannot be renegotiated,” according to a draft for the June 22-23 summit obtained by Bloomberg.
“The EU is strongly committed to free, fair and mutually beneficial trade and investment,” the draft conclusions, dated June 12, say. “The EU will keep its markets open and fight protectionism by pushing for the removal of all trade-distorting practices.”
The EU has been angered by Trump’s “America First” economic policy and his rejection of global free trade, as well his decision earlier this month to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact, which he claimed favors other nations at the expense of American workers.
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