Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 14 September in his state of the union speech, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker defended the policy of free-trade, describing the agreement with Canada (CETA) which is due to be signed and ratified this autumn as the “most progressive”, ever negotiated by the EU.
“Being European also means being open and trading with our neighbours. It means being the world’s biggest trading bloc, with trade agreements in place or under negotiation with over 140 partners across the globe. And trade means jobs – for every €1 billion we get in exports, 14,000 extra jobs are created across the EU. And more than 30 million jobs, 1 in 7 of all jobs in the EU, now depend on exports to the rest of the world”, he stated. “The EU-Canada trade agreement is the best and most progressive deal the EU has ever negotiated. And I will work with (Parliament) and with all member states to see this agreement ratified as soon as possible”, he added.
During the debate, Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany) was the only political group leader to have expressed the support of his colleagues for CETA. “Growth is stimulated by trade. That’s why my groups backs CETA”, he said.
Support for steel sector. “Being European also means standing up for our steel industry. We already have 37 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place to protect our steel industry from unfair competition. But we need to do more, as overproduction in some parts of the world is putting European producers out of business”, stated Juncker, highlighting that he has twice been in China this year “to address the issue of overcapacity”. At the G20 summit in Hangzhou at the start of this month, the EU was successful in having an international forum set up to tackle this problem (see EUROPE 11616).
Juncker also defended the action he has taken to toughen the EU’s trade defence armoury. It is, he said, to protect the European steel industry that “the Commission has proposed to change the lesser duty rule. The United States imposes a 265% import tariff on Chinese steel, but here in Europe, some governments have for years insisted we reduce tariffs on Chinese steel”, Juncker said, calling on the member states and the European Parliament to support the Commission in the action it is taking. “We should not be naïve free traders, but be able to respond as forcefully to dumping as the United States”, he argued. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)