Fifteen European Union governments on Monday urged the bloc to accelerate the signing of free trade agreements to ensure long-term economic growth and its geopolitical position in the world.

In a letter to EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, seen by Reuters, 15 Ministers of Economy, Foreign and Trade said the Ukraine war and the Covid-19 outbreak highlighted the need for flexible supply chains, partnership strategies and open trade.

With different forces competing for leadership and new alliances, the EU needs to accelerate its own trade momentum. One in seven EU jobs is linked to trade, the ministers said.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trade agreement involving China, Japan and Australia, entered into force in early 2022, a year after it was signed.

“This should be a wake-up call for Europe,” the ministers said, adding that the European Union took too long.

In 2019, the EU signed an agreement with the Mercosur bloc, which consists of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, but suspended the agreement due to concerns about deforestation in the Amazon. As of 2018, a new agreement with Mexico has not yet been submitted for EU approval.

Blok is also in trade talks with Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia and now with India.

EU diplomats say that France, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, has suspended measures to conclude trade deals in order not to disrupt the presidential and legislative elections.

France denies delaying the agreements.