The European Court of Auditors announced on Tuesday 28 May that it is currently conducting an audit to assess the implementation of the EU's trade defence policy. The audit report, scheduled for 2020, will focus on the relevance and effectiveness of the Commission's decisions on trade defence instruments (TDIs).
The Court will assess whether the Commission's decisions are "appropriate" in that they "effectively protect EU producers against unfair competition", according to Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, the European Court of Auditors' member responsible for the audit.
On the basis of the results of the case studies carried out by the Commission, meetings with Commission officials, but also with stakeholders, Member States' customs authorities and Ministries responsible for Member States' trade defence policy, the auditors will examine whether the procedures for implementing TDIs are regular and efficient, whether the Commission makes full use of the tools at its disposal to ensure their effectiveness and whether it has adequate means to ensure the proper application of TDIs.
142 anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures were applied in the EU between 2013 and 2017, two thirds of which concerned China. The majority of these measures targeted industrial products (metal and chemicals) rather than consumer products, with the notable exception of bicycles (electric and standard).
For the audit preview: https://bit.ly/2QvVdGE. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)