The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly highlighted weaknesses in the logistics supply chains of certain European industries, but “the solution, is not to turn back the clock on globalisation, because globalisation offers many advantages to our citizens by creating new markets and introducing competition”, said German Trade Minister Peter Altmaier on Thursday 3 September.
Speaking before the European Parliament's Trade Committee, Altmaier nevertheless felt that Europeans needed to become “more resilient” on this issue, something which will be discussed as part of the wider debate on revising the European trade policy at an informal meeting of EU trade ministers to be held on Monday 21 September. The future of the European steel industry, and in particular its ability to produce steel in a more environmentally friendly way, is another issue that will be on the agenda of this informal meeting.
Presenting Germany's priorities for the EU Council, Altmaier warned that his country would not be able to work miracles: few face-to-face meetings will take place, the US presidential elections will happen in November, and the EU no longer has an EU Trade Commissioner.
The Minister, who described the current period as a “reorientation phase” (see EUROPE 12507/5), nevertheless hoped that negotiations with the European Parliament over exports of dual-use goods could be finalised on a legislative level (see EUROPE 12534/9).
With regard to the United Kingdom, Mr Altmaier called for an agreement to be reached with the British Government over post-Brexit bilateral relations, but this agreement should “not grant unilateral advantages to the United Kingdom”.
WTO. The German minister also stated that the choice of a future WTO Director-General was a “key issue”. “We need a candidate who is capable of carrying out WTO reforms”, he said, indicating that he had already spoken to several candidates (see EUROPE 12530/7). Nevertheless, according to him, “it is not certain that a solution can be found that will suit all Member States”.
Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) said the EU should try to come to an agreement with the US on the best candidate.
On the subject of China, Mr Altmaier said he would like to see trade develop on the basis of “fair rules”. That is why he believes it is important to make progress on public subsidies for the industrial sector and on investment supervision.
United States. Another area of trade tension is relations with the United States. Altmaier was very pleased that the EU has succeeded since 2018 in halting the punitive momentum of the Trump administration. However, “we are far from having resolved all the problems”, he said, referring to the Airbus/Boeing dispute as part of which “we will have to defend the EU's interests” if the United States should reject European proposals and impose new sanctions.
“Unilateral measures do not bring us any closer to a solution”, he also said.
Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland) and Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL, Germany) asked him about introducing binding rules in trade agreements in respect of human rights and the environment. While the German minister acknowledged the importance of these issues, he said that “if we start by setting a large catalogue of preconditions” — human rights clauses, sustainability clauses, and so on — “we will only be able to have free trade agreements with a very small number of countries”.
A Trade Council is due to take place in Brussels on 9 November. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)