During their new session of Parliament on Tuesday 3 September, MEPs discussed Finland's priorities regarding international trade with Ville Skinnari, the country’s minister for international trade (see EUROPE 12293/15).
The Finnish minister, whose country took over the rotating EU Council Presidency on 1 July, called for an open European trade policy that promotes the EU's environmental and social values - a vision that he believes enjoys a "broad consensus” in the EU.
Skinnari said he was in favour of improving all the sections on ‘trade and sustainable development’ in free trade agreements (FTAs) and pledged to work towards better implementation of these FTAs, particularly with regard to the environment. However, he remained vague about the specific initiatives that his country intended to support in this area.
Skinnari also said that the next few months will also show whether World Trade Organisation (WTO) members believe they can support the EU's proposals to preserve the organisation's key role and safeguard its dispute settlement system (see EUROPE 12271/16).
He said that a positive agenda with Washington is essential, but also warned that the EU must be able to defend itself: in mid-November, the EU will be focusing on the follow-up to the US Department of Commerce's report on cars imported from the EU (see EUROPE 12258/14).
MEPs will also soon be asked to approve the agreements concluded with Vietnam (see EUROPE 12302/15), which provide significant leverage with regard to the regime in Hanoi, in Skinnari’s opinion. He went on to say that the appropriate tools will also be needed to ensure that the agreements are implemented in line with the commitments undertaken by the parties.
The Finnish minister was asked a number of questions on the FTA with Mercosur, which was finalised at the end of June (see EUROPE 12297/9, 12296/8). He defended the "balanced" provisions regarding agribusiness, while also recognising that an assessment of its impact would be needed as soon as the final texts of the agreement were published. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)