Looking abroad, the EU is in what is defined as a moment of crisis, the new is not just born and the old is not just dying. This has become clear in New York, on the occasion of the UN Assembly. The new thing is Josep Borrell , who has been proposed as the High Representative of the EU's Foreign Policy. The Legal Affairs Committee of the Eurocamara has ruled that its assets (shares of BBVA, Bags and Markets, Iberdrola and Bayer, and various investment funds) do not imply a conflict of interest. The European Parliament will examine the Spanish Foreign Minister on October 7.

The old thing is Federica Mogherini , the Italian who has held the position since November 2014 after having been Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government of Matteo Renzi .

In New York, Mogherini and Borrell agreed in several meetings. Non-European representatives did not know who to turn to, whether the past or the future of the EU. And there were important issues on the table. One was Venezuela, where the countries of the European Union received harsh criticism from the so-called Lima Group for their lack of commitment in pressuring the dictatorship's leaders. In the end, the EU had to give in and on Friday sanctioned seven members of the security and intelligence forces, four of whom are involved in the torture and death of Captain Rafael Acosta .

The EU is so swirling that its sanctions barely affect 25 Maduro leaders who have frozen their property on European soil and are prevented from traveling to the EU.

But a key issue on which Brussels did not give reliable signals was the trade conflict between the US and China. Neither Mogherini nor Borrell made it appear that the EU has its own policy that goes beyond relying on the World Trade Organization (WTO). Some countries like Argentina, Peru, Brazil or Chile expected gestures of greater commitment to free trade, but Europe did not give them.

This warm and disappointing attitude is due to the fact that the recent trade agreement with Mercosur (which affects Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) greatly bothers Emmanuel Macron , not because the Amazon catches fire, but because the French rural world is about to emulate the yellow vests and burn on all four sides. Smaller countries have made the EU see that their economies are so dependent on trade with China that their independence is seriously threatened. If the EU does not open its markets to its products and balance its trade balance, they will end up being satelliteized by Beijing to varying degrees.

Hopefully, on October 7, when it is examined before the European Chamber, Borrell will give clear signals about what he intends to do about it. Many nations not aligned in this conflict are waiting for the Brussels position to see if they support it or should look for another white knight.

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