Low-Key EU Player’s New Job May Help Sell Mercosur Deal
Cargo ships sit docked at the Port of Rio de Janeiro in March.
Photographer: Dado Galdieri/BloombergA month before he resigned as European Union trade commissioner over an Irish coronavirus controversy, Phil Hogan made a much less publicized job announcement: appointing the first person to police the bloc’s slew of commercial agreements with the rest of the world.
The late-July selection of veteran EU insider Denis Redonnet as chief trade enforcement officer coincides with the 27-nation bloc’s continuing preparations to vote on its hard-fought — and controversial — draft accord with the Mercosur group of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.