Brussels, 13/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - “What future for the WTO?” is the title of the 2016 parliamentary conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament, to be held in Geneva on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 June.
The European Parliament delegation is being led by the chair of its international trade committee Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), and includes Paul Rübig (EPP, Austria), Daniel Caspary (EPP, Germany), Inmaculada Rodriguez-Piñero Fernandez (S&D, Spain), Emma McClarkin (ECR, UK), Amjad Bashir (ECR, UK), Hannu Takkula (ADLE, Finland), Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL, Germany) and Klaus Buchner (Greens/EFA, Germany). It will present its vision for the future of the agenda of the WTO, the multilateral organisation governing global trade.
Issues surrounding the WTO work agenda following the Nairobi ministerial conference in an age of regional free-trade agreements, the WTO dispute settlement system, trade as a vehicle of social progress and how to make trade work for development are up for discussion by the close to 400 participants - some 100 parliamentarians from 57 countries, leading members of the WTO and representatives of civil society.
“The European Parliament is among ones with the most far-reaching influence on shaping trade policy. However, any deal resulting from inter-governmental trade talks, in most cases democracies, needs approval from the directly elected representatives of the people”, states the Parliament in a press release. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)