New strategy puts EU trade policy at service of European competitiveness and economic reform

Summary: New strategy puts EU trade policy at service of European competitiveness and economic reform (4 October 2006: Brussels)

The European Commission has today adopted a new strategy to integrate trade policy into the European Union's competitiveness and economic reform agenda. The policy review (Global Europe: competing in the world) sets out a strategy for opening new markets abroad for EU companies to trade and ensuring that European companies are able to compete fairly in those markets. It also commits Europe to ensuring that its own markets remain open, arguing that in a global market, with global supply chains, Europe needs to import to export. It cannot argue for openness from others while sheltering behind barriers of our own.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "Economic strength at home is essential to a strong European voice in the world. Trade is indispensable to creating and sustaining this strength. A changing global economy needs a new trade policy. An open market is not just a lowered tariff - it is a market in which European companies get a fair deal, with freedom to compete and legal protection when they do. Europe's policy needs to be clear: rejection of protectionism at home; activism in opening markets abroad."

Vice President Gunter Verheugen said: "Our key objective is to deliver on growth and jobs, for the benefit of our citizens and companies. For that, Europe needs better market access and an international economic environment conducive to growth and jobs. The actions adopted today will thus strengthen our renewed Lisbon strategy.

Charlie McCreevy, Commissioner for the Internal Market said: "Competition, along with clear rights and rules for everyone is the cornerstone of the internal market, is the recipe for growth and prosperity. In a 21st century global and knowledge-based economy, we need to spend some time driving change and not just reacting to it. Making our trade policy part of this agenda is an essential part of the over all strategy for growth and jobs".

A framework for putting trade policy at the service of EU competitiveness

To build a stronger EU economy at home, Europe has to be more competitive abroad. From Autumn 2006 and through 2007, the European Commission will set out the competitiveness agenda for EU trade policy with a series of linked initiatives:

- The EU is totally committed to the WTO and the multilateral trading system is its first priority. It will work to resume and conclude negotiations in the Doha Development Agenda.

- The Commission will propose a new generation of bilateral free trade agreements with key partners to build on WTO rules by tackling issues which are not ready for multilateral discussion and by preparing the ground for the next level of multilateral liberalisation. The key economic criteria for new FTAs should be market potential - particularly the emerging markets of Asia.

- China will be the single greatest challenge for EU Trade policy in the years to come. The European Commission will set out a comprehensive new strategy on China at the end of October 2006.

- The European Commission will launch the next stage of its global strategy for protecting intellectual property rights, with tougher benchmarks for cracking down on counterfeiting and new cooperation with key partners.

- The European Commission will renew its Market Access Strategy to focus on non-tariff barriers and ask EU industry to identify key sectors and priority problems. The European Commission will also produce a new strategy for ensuring better access for EU companies to major public procurement markets.

- The European Commission will conduct a public consultation to reflect on and possibly reform the European Union's anti-dumping and other trade defence instruments. Many European companies now have global supply chains and invest and produce outside of the EU market. The EU economic interests are global and highly complex. We need to be sure that our trade defence instruments and our use of them take account of these new realities.

To read the full review visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/trade/index_en.htm

Ref: EC06-298EN
EU source: European Commission
UN forum:
Date: 4/10/2006

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