Macron has threatened to veto a trade deal with the Mercusur bloc of South American countries, if Brazil’s new President-elect Jair Bolsonaro follows through with his pledge to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.

The deal is still not complete, even after 17 years of negotiations. When the EU negotiates trade deals with other countries, any one of the 28 EU member states can veto the signing of it, making the process painfully sclerotic. When the UK leaves the EU’s Customs Union, we will be able to sign a deal with Brazil if we want to – without having to seek Macron’s permission…