Despite the temporary halt to the EU-United States free-trade talks (TTIP) while awaiting the position the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on 20 January, Malta, which has held the presidency of the Council of the EU since 1 January, has set itself a heavy trade agenda over the next six months.
Among the main issues is the provisional implementation of the EU-Canada free-trade deal (CETA), signed on 30 November 2016 which now awaiting the European Parliament’s green light which it is hoped will be given in February (see EUROPE 11678).
The Maltese Presidency will also look to maintain momentum in the free-trade talks with Japan which are nearing conclusion (see EUROPE 11694). continue negotiations on an investment agreement with China (see EUROPE 11649) and the talks that were opened in 2016 on free-trade agreements with Indonesia (see EUROPE 11632) and the Philippines (see EUROPE 11567).
Valletta will also work to keep the free-trade talks between the EU and Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (Venezuela is not taking part in the discussions), on track following the exchange of offers on market access in May of last year followed by a first round of negotiations in October (see EUROPE 11647) and pursue talks on a comprehensive, modernised global agreement with Mexico, on which two rounds of negotiations were held in 2016 (see EUROPE 11574).
The Maltese Presidency will also work on granting a mandate that will authorise the Commission to negotiate free-trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
In its programme on the EU’s neighbourhood, which features among its six key priorities, Malta says it wants to maintain the momentum of the trade talks with Tunisia.
On the multilateral level, the Maltese Presidency will get down to preparatory work for the 11th WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December when WTO member countries will try to agree further significant advances following on from the Nairobi conference in 2015.
Internally within the EU, the Presidency will look to give impetus to negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament on the proposal to modernise the EU’s trade defence instruments. Slovakia, which held the Presidency in the second half of 2016, was successful in brokering a qualified majority agreement on the Council’s position with regard to the proposals tabled by the Commission in April 2013, ahead of trialogue negotiations (see EUROPE 11688).
The Presidency will also chair the inter-institutional discussions on the Commission proposal for a new method of anti-dumping calculation to address the issue of China in EU anti-dumping investigations on the expiry of the provisions contained in the protocol for China’s joining the WTO (see EUROPE 11664).
An informal gathering of trade ministers meeting as the Foreign Affairs Council is scheduled for 11 May. At this meeting, the free-trade talks with Japan, Singapore and Mercosur, preparation of the WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires and EU trade defence instruments will be discussed.
An informal meeting of EU trade ministers is planned for 2-3 March in Valletta. The agenda for this meeting has yet to be determined. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)