The European Commission’s anti-dumping investigations into third-country exporters should take account of whether that country respects international tax, environmental and social standards, the committee on international trade said on Tuesday 20 June.
Adopting, by a sizeable majority (33 votes to 3 with 2 abstentions), in the draft report by Salvatore Cicu (EPP, Italy), the MEPs have agreed on their negotiating position on the EU’s new methodology for anti-dumping calculation. This methodology, which will in future be based on the European Commission’s investigations demonstrating significant market distortions, will aim to resolve the Chinese issue following the expiry of various provisions of China’s accession protocol to the WTO (see EUROPE 11664).
“By creating clear and tough anti-dumping rules, we can protect citizens from the negative effects of globalisation”, Cicu said in a Parliament press release.
According to the MEPs, it should be possible to penalise non-European companies that practise unusually low prices, as these are in breach of the multilateral agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement, or the base conventions of the International Labour Organisation. “It is not about protectionism, but protections: protecting common goods, the environment and workers, both here and there”, said Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France).
The MEPs wish the Commission to draw up detailed reports describing the specific situation of a given sector of activity, such as steel, or of a country, in terms of unfair commercial practices. They have tightened up the proposal on the table by making it obligatory to use international prices, rather than the prices of countries practising dumping, to determine whether there is a market distortion. Furthermore, European businesses should not face a greater administrative burden than that of the procedure currently in place when asking the Commission to launch an anti-dumping investigation.
“China does not and will not have market economy status, as there are no longer any grounds for this. We have removed all references to this status. This new methodology allows the EU to get around this question and ensure that European companies are protected from unfair competition”, said French EPP members Tokia Saïfi and Franck Proust. On behalf of the ECR group, Belgium’s Sanders Loones called for a balance between opening up the European markets and an end to European naïveté in trade matters.
Negotiations on this text will start in mid-July with the Council of the EU, unless the MEPs object to the draft 'Cicu' report between now and Parliament’s July plenary session. The member states reached their negotiating position in May (see EUROPE 11780). According to a parliamentary source, one of the differences between the MEPs’ position and that of the member states lies in the fact that Parliament’s list of indicators to determine the existence of market distortions is broader than the Council’s.
At the same time, inter-institutional negotiations are underway on the modernisation of the trade defence instruments.
The European Council to be held on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 June will discuss EU trade policy, particularly the question of foreign investments (see EUROPE 11811). According to draft conclusions dated Monday 19 June of which EUROPE has had sight, the European leaders may reiterate the importance of respecting standards that are “central to the European way of life”, such as environmental, social, health and consumer standards. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)