The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade adopted on Tuesday 20 November by a comfortable majority (31 votes in favour, 3 against and 3 abstentions) its draft resolution proposing ways to modernise the World Trade Organisation (WTO) (see EUROPE 12105).
While MEPs follow the approach proposed by the Commission in September 2018 (see EUROPE 12098), they stress the importance of the multilateral system being based on rules supporting social, environmental and fundamental rights. These include the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The draft report also highlights the need for an open dialogue, involving in particular China, but also Brazil, India, Canada, the United States and Japan.
"Preserving the rules-based multilateral trading system is a priority of the EU", said Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), Parliament's co-rapporteur, after the vote. "This report injects the priorities and preferences of the European Parliament into the ongoing debate", he added. And to conclude: "The EU stands ready to help dialogue and convergence between those and other WTO members. ”
The draft resolution could be voted on at Parliament's mini plenary session at the end of November 2018. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)