Member states’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) reached a qualified majority agreement on Tuesday 13 December on the Council’s position for the trialogue negotiations with the European Parliament on the proposal to modernise the EU’s trade defence instruments (TDIs), tabled by the European Commission in April 2013 (see EUROPE 10824).
“This is a major breakthrough. Our trade defence instruments have remained largely the same for over 15 years but the situation on world markets has changed dramatically. Europe cannot be naïve and has to defend its interests, especially in case of dumping. This is a crucial step towards a solid solution that would help EU producers cope with unfair competition and practices”, said Slovak Economy Minister and President of the Council Peter Ziga.
The proposed regulation amends current anti-dumping and anti-subsidies regulations to better respond to unfair trade practices. The purpose is to shield EU producers from damage caused by unfair competition, ensuring free and fair trade.
The proposed regulation seeks to increase transparency and predictability with regard to the imposition of provisional anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures. This includes a period of four weeks after the information is made public during which provisional duties will not be applied. It will also shorten the investigation period
It will also allow Commission investigations to be initiated without an official request from industry, when a threat of retaliation by third countries exists (ex officio investigations).
The major change in the proposed text is enabling higher duties to be imposed in exceptional cases where there are distortions in the cost of raw materials and these raw materials, including energy, account for more than 27% of the cost of production in total and more than 7% taken individually. This would allow for limited deviations from the EU “lesser duty rule”. The imposition of higher duties will be based on a target profit and also be subject to a Union interest test.
Lastly, the proposed text will enable importers to be reimbursed for duties collected during an expiry review in the event of trade defence measures not being maintained.
Forced to react to the crisis in steel making and to public criticism of a trade policy that is not tough enough against unfair trading practices on the global market, particularly from China, October’s European Council asked the Council to bring forward a balanced agreement by the end of 2016 for negotiations with the Parliament on modernising TDIs.
EU trade ministers came very close to agreement on a Council negotiating position at their meeting on 11 November (see EUROPE 11666).
On Tuesday, the Commission hailed “a major step in adapting our legislation to today’s economic realities”. “Europe needs to make sure that we have modern, state-of-the-art tools in place to deal with unfair trading practices when needed. The EU stands for free, rules-based trade and we must be able to address unfair subsidies and dumping with determination”, stated Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.
“The compromise reached in Council is a first step towards a Europe that is aware of it status as a trading power, towards regulated world trade where reciprocity is the corner stone. It reflects the efforts of the French government for a Europe that is assertive in globalisation”, commented French Secretary of State for External Trade Matthias Fekl, highlighted the efforts of Germany and France in achieving this compromise. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)