During a debate at the College of Commissioners on Wednesday 6 September, EU trade policy was the subject of a "very relevant" discussion ahead of the next State of the Union speech that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will deliver on 13 September, Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated –without giving any further detail.
The College discussions on Wednesday "were the continuation of the Commission's seminar last week on its work programme for respecting its priorities by May 2018", Schinas had said earlier.
While the Commission's exact programme for the months to come remains secret so as to keep the suspense for Juncker's speech, there is no doubt that trade will be one of the major areas for work.
After a day of planning with her team at the end of August, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström tweeted about "a busy autumn" but did not give any more information.
In the coming months, the Commission will be involved in continuing work with the Japanese authorities in order to finalise the EU-Japan free trade agreement, on which both parties reached an agreement in principle on 6 July (see EUROPE 11824). The two parties hope to finalise the agreement definitively by the end of the year by coming to an arrangement on its investment protection chapter.
By the end of 2017, the Commission also hopes to conclude the agreements in principle for a free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries and an updated free trade agreement with Mexico.
In addition, the Commission also wants to open free trade negotiations in the autumn with Australia and New Zealand, once the Council has approved its negotiating directives.
Keen to avoid a repeat of the fiasco over ratification of the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA), and with the ratification of the agreements concluded with Singapore and Vietnam coming up, the Commission is working behind the scenes on a new framework agreement that would enable the accelerated ratification of trade agreements without the risk of a veto from the national parliaments.
This new framework consists of splitting the free trade agreements into two parts – the chapters (most) that relate to the exclusive competence of the EU, which could be ratified swiftly by the European Parliament and member state governments at the Council, and the chapters that do not (those relating to investments).
While the Commission plans to propose starting talks with Australia and New Zealand using this model of accelerated ratification, the mystery remains over how Juncker will unveil, in his State of the Union speech, his plans for such a sensitive issue just a few weeks away from the general elections in Germany.
Juncker is also eagerly awaited on the equally sensitive issue of investments from foreign countries in strategic sectors of the EU. At the beginning of August, France, Germany and Italy again called on the Commission to make proposals for better protecting European companies from foreign investments that are potentially politically motivated (see EUROPE 11844). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)