As a guest on the programme QR: USA Special on RTBF, the President of the Mouvement Réformateur, Georges-Louis Bouchez, gave a clear-eyed analysis of today's major geopolitical challenges. Speaking plainly and directly, he stressed the need for Belgium and Europe to adopt an assertive strategy in international trade, in defending their interests, and in shaping their view of the world.
On trade, the point is simple: rejecting free-trade agreements means refusing to create wealth. While some fiercely opposed the CETA agreement between the European Union and Canada a few years ago, Georges-Louis Bouchez now recalls what that agreement delivered: two billion euros injected into the Walloon economy. At the time, another treaty was also under discussion: TTIP, a trade partnership with the United States. But under ideological pressure, the European Union backed down. The result: today Belgium is not sufficiently protected against the new waves of protectionism, particularly coming from the United States itself.
For the MR, it is time to take the initiative again. We must negotiate international treaties with as many regions of the world as possible. Free trade, when governed by common and fair rules, remains an engine of mutual prosperity. That is the liberal choice: trust in exchange, cooperation and openness. Not in closure, nor in isolation.
But the economy alone is not enough. Georges-Louis Bouchez stressed this: for fifteen years, the United States has viewed China as its main rival. It was not Donald Trump who invented this bipolar view of the world; it was already being shaped under the Obama administration. The approach has changed, not the objective. Faced with this strategic realignment, a simple question arises: what place do we want for Europe? What place do we want for Belgium?
Yet over the past twenty years, Europe has weakened itself. It has gradually given up what constitutes power: energy autonomy, industrial independence, military capability. This was done in the name of ideologies and a naive view of international relations. Now, while support for Ukraine is on display, we must also ask what the ultimate goal is: do we really want to push Russia back? Or are we content to maintain a status quo that is unsustainable in the long run?
Through these observations, Georges-Louis Bouchez conveys a clear message: that of a liberalism which does not merely comment on the world, but seeks to shape it. By making the difficult choices, defending an open economy, strengthening Europe, and above all equipping Belgium with a coherent foreign policy aligned with its interests.
The MR remains the party of strategic clarity, economic courage and European commitment.
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