Brussels, 22/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament delegation, led by chair of the international trade committee Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), has hailed the agreement concluded in Nairobi on Saturday 19 December at the 10th ministerial conference of the WTO.
“For us who strongly believe in multilateralism, the deal is a major achievement as it is crucially important for the multilateral trade system as such”, Lange said, underlining the importance of the agreement for the developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs), and hailing the “crucial role” played by the EU and Brazil in the agreement on export competition.
The Nairobi package includes an agreement on the export competition pillar, scheduling the removal of agricultural export subsidies by 2030 (an immediate removal by the developed countries; by the end of 2018, or even 2023, for developing countries; and by the end of 2030 for LDCs). It also includes a package for LDCs, including softening the rules of origin for these countries (see EUROPE 11458).
“But a lot still remains to be done in order to increase participation of the developing world in global trade”, Lange said.
The MEPs also stated that the process leading to the Nairobi conference had shown that need for structural reform of the WTO - which, in the MEPs' view, should begin to examine new subjects in order to give the organisation greater dynamism and enable it to move forward into areas of international trade that are relevant today.
The MEPs nevertheless reaffirmed the EU's full commitment to multilateralism, and called for a trade programme that is based on free and fair trade, and that places development at the centre of the process.
They also called for the WTO's democratic legitimacy and transparency to be enhanced, strengthening its parliamentary dimension and involving parliamentarians more in trade negotiations and in the making and implementation of WTO decisions. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)