Brussels, 07/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - In its latest examination of the EU's trade policy, to appear in July, the WTO welcomes the efforts being made by the 27 member bloc to maintain the openness and transparency of its trade and investment regime since the 2009 global recession. “Given the EU's dominant position as leading exporter and importer worldwide, its decision to avoid toughening import restrictions in response to the crisis has had a stabilising effect on the multilateral system”, the WTO is pleased to state, deploring, however, the continued existence of obstacles to market access.
The WTO notes that, although completion of the multilateral Doha Round talks remains its priority, the EU continues its programme of bilateral free trade agreements, of which one will soon take effect (with South Korea) and two are in the final stages of completion (Peru and Colombia, Central America). It also notes that, despite sustained growth of its network of preferential trade agreements, 85% of all EU imports in 2008 were allowed under the most favoured nation (MFN) regime, which highlights the fundamental importance that the multilateral system holds for the EU, the WTO states. We recall that, at the end of 2009, the EU did away with its tariff quotas on imports of rice and sugar in the context of the “Everything but Arms” initiative which, under the generalised system of preferences (GSP), grants the least developed countries (LDC) duty-free/quota-free access to EU markets. The WTO welcomes the introduction of more flexible rules of origin for products imported within the GSP framework which, applied since 2011, allows additional processed products in the LDCs to benefit from preferential treatment.
The main instruments of EU trade policy have remained more or less unchanged since 2009, the date of the WTO's last examination which found that the simple average of MFN rates applied was 6.4% in 2011, i.e. slightly below the 2008 average, while the MFN rates applied for agricultural products was 15.2% in 2011, compared to 17.9% in 2008. The average MFN rate applied for non-agricultural products remained at 4.1%, but the MFN tariff structure of the EU remains “complex”, according to the WTO, deploring the fact that 9% of EU tariff lines have peaks of over 15%.
The WTO also notes that, with 125 measures in force since 2011 (of which nearly 45% are applied to China alone), the EU remains a major user of antidumping measures, despite a downward trend since 2008. Nonetheless, despite a slight rise in its countervailing measures in force, the EU continues to make relatively limited use of this instrument, and has not applied any safeguards since 2005.
The exceptional intervention of many EU member states to support national companies affected by the economic crisis was mainly targeted at the financial sector in order to avoid the far-reaching consequences of a large-scale financial crisis, the WTO welcomes. It does, however, note the “considerable” support for other sectors such as the automotive industry, building and tourism. The EU also deserves a good mark for not having amended its public procurement regime since 2009, as do its member states for not having introduced protectionist local purchase obligations at national levels in response to the crisis.
On the subject of agriculture, although the CAP health check in 2008 limited its role on the markets and enlarged the decoupled support schemes from prices or agricultural production, total support remains considerable in absolute terms and in relative terms, the WTO points out.
Finally, given how difficult it is to gain access to the EU market due to the increasingly binding regulatory practices, the WTO invites the EU to carefully examine the possible impact that its regulatory environment could have on trade, including its high regulatory norms with regard to food safety and products, in order to ensure that its technical regulations and its conformity assessment procedures do not create pointless barriers to trade with third countries. (E.H./transl.jl)