Denis Redonnet will be the first to take up the post of Chief Trade Enforcement Officer (CTEO) and Deputy Director-General for Trade Services at the European Commission (DG TRADE), the European institution announced on Friday 24 July.
“This appointment is a statement of the Commission’s commitment to the enforcement and implementation of our trade agreements”, Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan said in a statement.
This post was born out of a French proposal and was relayed by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, in July 2019, “in order to improve compliance with our trade agreements and to report regularly to the European Parliament”.
Although he has already been working for many years in DG TRADE, Mr Redonnet is facing no easy task in his new position. Any observer of trade policy can confirm that, over the last twelve months, the mention of the ‘CTEO’ function has regularly gone hand in hand with the miracle solution to the shortcomings identified in European trade policy (see EUROPE 12298/24).
Once the effective date of this appointment is determined, Mr Redonnet will be expected to help develop the toolbox that will enable the EU to better protect itself against unfair and abusive practices by non-Member States. He will be given “the power and resources to really make a difference”, Hogan promised Walloon MEPs on 16 July.
The CTEO will also help to ensure that European SMEs “benefit as much as possible from our trade agreements”, he also stressed.
Finally, “he will also work to strengthen the implementation of sustainable development commitments, particularly with regard to the fight against climate change and labour rights”, explained Mr Hogan. (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)