Brussels, 06/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 8 May, European trade ministers will review progress in the free-trade negotiations with the three partner economies of the European countries in the G7 - Canada, the US and Japan.
Canada. The European Commission will inform the Council of progress in the negotiations on the technical issues to be resolved as part of the comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA).
Six months after the official ceremony in Brussels on 18 October 2013 with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, celebrating an agreement in principle on its essential components (see EUROPE 10946), the CETA has still not been finalised - with Europeans and Canadians still having to find agreement on certain technical and legal aspects (see EUROPE 11069).
Work on the technical issues should nevertheless be concluded before the Council meeting. In particular, this work has accelerated on the arrangements regarding the protection of investments and the settlement of investor/state disputes (ISDS). On Thursday, the Council is expected to support an alignment of the CETA text with the result of the internal EU negotiations on a regulation on ISDS financial responsibility. The ministers are likely to raise questions on the implications of a recent public consultation launched on the ISDS chapter of the TTIP negotiations with the US.
The issues raised during a recent meeting of the Trade Policy Committee focused on the management of tariff quotas, intellectual property rights for pharmaceuticals, financial services, feedering, the protection of geographical indications, investment protection and rules of origin.
Japan. The Commission will brief the Council on the main elements of a report on Japan's implementation of its commitments on lifting non-tariff barriers in the context of the ongoing free-trade negotiations, launched in April 2013. The Council will hold a preliminary debate and will ask the Trade Committee to examine this progress report, which the Commission is due to finalise the week following the Council.
Provided for in the EU's negotiating mandate, the examination of Japan's progress on lifting around 30 non-tariff barriers which protect a number of its markets (including the automobile, railway transport, medicines and food markets), which was scheduled after a year of negotiations, can lead to their suspension if the EU considers this progress insufficient.
During their fifth round of negotiations at the beginning of April in Tokyo, European and Japanese negotiators proceeded to an exchange of offers on market access for goods (see EUROPE 11054).
Doha. The ministers will hold an exchange of views, on the basis of a Commission note, on the post-Bali agenda (referring to the mini-agreement on the Doha round) concluded in December 2013 (see EUROPE 10980). In its note, the Commission presents the results of the Bali package and the challenges following the initial phase of the post-Bali process, including the elements of the EU position for the next phase of this process. The Commission also puts a series of questions to the delegations on how the EU should review its negotiating strategy with a view to reaching a realistic level of ambition, and on how the negotiation texts of 2008 could be reviewed to improve the balance of the WTO countries and to reach a balance between the three pillars of the round - agriculture, industrial products and services.
In addition, the ministers are also expected to adopt conclusions and negotiating directives on the green products initiative, to which around 15 WTO members (including the EU) committed on 24 January, with a view to liberalising trade in environmental goods. Basing itself on the list of 54 ecological products identified by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Council is expected to express its support for the removal of customs duties on a wide range of additional products which contribute directly and positively to green growth and environmental protection. The Council will also highlight the need to explore the ground for the liberalisation of environmental services and for the removal of non-tariff barriers targeting environmental goods and services.
USA. Over lunch, the ministers will review progress on the negotiations for a transatlantic trade and investment partnership agreement (TTIP) after four rounds of talks (the last being in mid-March - see EUROPE 11039) and an initial exchange of tariff offers that was made in February. The next round is planned in Washington for the week on 19 May.
Economic partnership agreements. The Council will review progress on the economic partnership agreements, focusing on those closest to finalisation - those with West Africa, East Africa and the South African Development Community. (EH)