A round of negotiations on digital trade, which will begin this week at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, should provide participants in these plurilateral talks with an opportunity to address substantive issues for the first time.
From 13 to 15 May, negotiators from 77 WTO Member States will meet primarily to take the pulse of each other's ambitions and to begin to outline future negotiations. The topics related to digital commerce are indeed potentially very broad, and the actors involved in these discussions, including the EU, the United States, Russia, Brazil and China, will undoubtedly have various and varied ambitions (see EUROPE 12247/7, 12242/3).
Several members, including the European Union, have already tabled text proposals in recent weeks.
According to the European Commission, these negotiations to develop rules on digital trade should make it possible, on the one hand, to stem the proliferation of provisions in bilateral free trade agreements, while at the same time strengthening online consumer confidence. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)