EU trade ministers are to meet in Buenos Aires on Sunday 10 December, before the opening the same day of the 11th WTO ministerial conference. The conference will continue in the Argentine capital until Wednesday 13 December in order to define, in conclusions, the EU's position at this event.
The 28 EU member states will reiterate the EU's objective of strengthening the multilateral trade system, as well as the EU's continued commitment to the WTO. The Council is therefore expected to underline its readiness to study how to strengthen the WTO's functions of negotiation, monitoring and dispute settlement.
Given the difficulties in reaching consensus on the issues being discussed in Geneva, the EU will bring more systemic questions to Buenos Aires – such as the current stalemate on the renewal of members of the appellate body for the WTO dispute settlement system (see EUROPE 11885, 11905), a source told EUROPE on Thursday 7 December.
In its formal position that will delimit the negotiation mandate of European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, the EU Council is expected to say it is ready to support an "ambitious and yet realistic and balanced" package of measures resulting from the conference.
This package will include: - concrete results on subsidies to the fisheries sector, including rigorous disciplines going beyond illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; - a reasonable and balanced result enabling the question of domestic support in agriculture, and the question of public stockholding for food security purposes, to be dealt with comprehensively; - a commitment to go deeper in the debate on e-commerce, internal regulation of the services sector, transparency and good regulatory practice for SMEs, and the facilitation of investment; - export restrictions in the agriculture sector.
"We are hoping for a package of results that is as comprehensive and balanced as possible. We want to see not only an agenda limited to several questions on agriculture and fishing subsidies, but a broader package that includes results in the area of goods, services and e-commerce", a Commission source told EUROPE.
Other sessions of the EU Council of ministers, as well as meetings of the trade policy committee, could be called in Buenos Aires, according to how the situation develops.
The Council will be invited, if necessary, to approve the WTO negotiation texts on behalf of the EU, and will meet to assess the results of the conference when it closes. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)