Under the leadership of their Bulgarian colleague Emil Karanikolov, the EU trade ministers are expected to adopt a decision in Brussels on 22 May recommending the opening of negotiations for free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, as well as the corresponding negotiating mandates presented by the European Commission on 15 September 2017 and amended by the member states (see EUROPE 11862).
These free trade agreements will mainly focus on further reducing barriers to trade between the European market and Australian and New Zealand markets, on removing customs duties on goods, and on improving access to services and public procurement in Australia and New Zealand.
The negotiating mandates particularly underline the protection of vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, a source from the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council stated on Tuesday 15 May.
Furthermore, the negotiating mandates offer a modern framework on the highest standards on the protection of workers, the environment and consumers. They also advocate ambitious arrangements on the climate, in connection with the international Climate Agreement concluded in Paris in 2015 under the aegis of the UN.
The scope of application of the free trade agreements will not include investment protection, but the EU could decide to negotiate separate investment agreements with Australia and New Zealand alongside the free trade agreements (see EUROPE 11994).
New architechture of trade agreements. The ministers are furthermore expected to adopt conclusions on the new architecture and new method of negotiating EU trade agreements, in connection with the opinion of the European Court of Justice on the EU-Singapore free trade agreement and the allocation of competences between the EU and its member states (see EUROPE 11789).
The Council is expected to take note of the Commission's intention to split into separate agreements the arrangements on investment, which should be approved by the EU and all the member states, and the other trade arrangements, which fall within the exclusive competence of the EU.
The conclusions are thus expected to set out the Council's future approach on this issue, including in the specific case of the free trade agreement recently concluded with Japan and those which will be negotiated with Australia and New Zealand.
Singapore and Japan. The trade ministers will also have an exchange of views on the free trade agreements with Japan and Singapore, for which the Commission sent the texts to the Council and European Parliament on 18 April for signature and ratification in the hope that these agreements can enter into force before the end of the current Commission's mandate in autumn 2019 (see EUROPE 12004).
WTO and multilateral trade system. The Council will discuss the current challenges for the multilateral trade system governed by the WTO, giving an update on the new elements that have come about since the 11th ministerial conference of the WTO, in Buenos Aires on 10-13 December 2017. This conference did not result in any substantial agreement, but the member countries simply agreed on a minimal decision on subsidies for fisheries, and some of them committed to plurilateral sectoral initiatives (see EUROPE 11926).
USA. Over lunch, the ministers will discuss the development of transatlantic trade relations in the light of the dispute over the unilateral raising of US customs duties on imports of steel and aluminium. This decision was taken by US President Donald Trump in March and the EU is temporarily exempt from the duties until 1 June.
Whilst European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross continue their discussions to find common ground to exempt the EU from these customs duties permanently, the "approaches" of the leaders of the 28 EU member states to try and find a way out on this issue are expected on the sidelines of the EU-Balkans summit in Sofia on 17 May, according to a Bulgarian source.
To exempt the EU from these customs duties definitively, Washington is asking for greater opening of the European market. But the Commission demands that the EU be "totally and unconditionally" exempt from these US taxes before beginning any discussion on other issues.
Over recent weeks, whilst France has taken the same line as the Commission, Germany and Italy have been quite clear about their desire for an arrangement including a tariff reduction for certain products and putting aside the thornier issues of the TTIP negotiations, which have been at a standstill since the end of 2016.
The Commission cannot negotiate tariff reductions and other market access issues with Washington without a mandate from the 28 EU member states. "There is no discussion on a mandate", a Bulgarian diplomatic source assured on Tuesday.
The US administration hints that a compromise is possible if the EU accepts quotas for its exports of steel and aluminium (see EUROPE 12020). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)