On Tuesday 24 January, the day after the decision taken by new US President Donald Trump to put an end to the USA's participation in the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), the European Commission reaffirmed the EU's commitment to trade agreements with the Asia-Pacific countries and to free trade in general.
"The EU is one of the world's most open economies, and remains committed to free and fair international trade, focused on the needs of citizens and aiming at ensuring the benefits of trade as widely as possible", European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas told a press conference.
"The president of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has repeatedly said that the EU's commitment to bringing progress to free trade remains unchanged. The EU is currently engaged in negotiations for almost 20 regional and bilateral trade agreements with different partners across the globe", he added.
Schinas stated that the EU was committed to the negotiation of free trade agreements or had negotiated free trade agreements "with all but one of the TPP signatories". "Some negotiations, including those with Japan, have nearly come to a successful end and the ratification of agreements with Canada, Singapore and Vietnam is imminent", he said.
"We are determined to counter the trend towards unilateralism. Thirty-one million jobs depend on exports in the EU. The Commission is convinced that by working together with like-minded partners, we cannot just improve opportunities for our economy but shape globalisation to ensure it fits with our values in an open, fair and rules-based society. In a nutshell, Europe is open for business", Schinas said.
The 12 countries around the Pacific Ocean – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the USA – signed the TPP agreement in February 2016. This had been concluded in October 2015 to create an enormous free trade area. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)