In these tweets, France’s Macron is holding his nose, absurdly reframing the EU-China accord as some sort of punishment against Beijing as opposed to the historic breakthrough hailed by Xi Jinping. 1- https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1344318616314007553

The problem is that the deal is from another era.
The negotiation began seven years ago, when Xi remained an unknown entity and belief was still alive that China could be enticed via trade into liberal-minded best practices. 2-

This was when the EU was also brewing up TTIP, the EU-US trade pact which was quickly sapped by opposition in Germany and much of Europe, turning the tide against the EU’s unchecked pursuit of blockbuster trade deals. 3-

After Trump, the world quivers at trade deals, but negotiations have their own lives, and the China deal, much like Mercosur, landed back on earth to a new reality. As the crackdown in HK goes full swing, it remains to be seen if it will be defended. 4-

Maybe with today’s news the EU bids good riddance to a formerly good idea in which the European Parliament, unlike with Brexit, will be given the quiet nod to show up with daggers. 5-

How else to interpret all the talk that the deal is only “in principle” with the final outcome still months or years away? Today’s deal is the submission of a thesis dreamt up in 2013 that no one wants delivered. 6-