The French Minister for Foreign Trade, Franck Riester, defended, on Thursday 17 September, a reform of the WTO that places sustainable development at the centre of the concerns of a revitalised multilateral trade system.
We are not giving up on having a multilateral organisation that takes into account “sustainable development” and promotes “respect for common public goods”, he told some journalists in Brussels. He considered that the “top priority” was to break the deadlock on the WTO Appellate Body.
On Friday, the 164 members of the Geneva-based organisation unveiled the five candidates to succeed Roberto Azevêdo as Director General, namely Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), Yoo Myung-hee (South Korea), Amina Mohamed (Kenya), Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) and Liam Fox (United Kingdom) (see EUROPE 12530/7). The aim is now to reduce the list to two candidates.
Europeans believe that the future Director General of the organisation should have “political weight” and the EU will stand behind the same candidate, Mr Riester said.
This appointment process as well as the reform of the WTO, including how to strengthen international rules-based trade and open markets, will be on the agenda of the informal meeting of EU Trade Ministers in Berlin on 21 September. These topics will also be discussed the day before at a Ministerial dinner attended by Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner-designate for Trade.
In Berlin, the Ministers will also discuss the diversification of the European Union’s trade relations and the reduction of European dependence on certain international supply chains, in light of the experience gained during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the Airbus/Boeing dispute, Mr Riester hoped that the United States would consider proposals to appease the Europeans. “We want fruitful relations” with Washington, without unilateral sanctions, he added, while warning that the EU would act, if necessary, in the context of WTO proceedings.
In March, the US imposed new sanctions on the EU related to the Airbus/Boeing dispute (see EUROPE 12448/24).
Brexit. As for post-Brexit EU-United Kingdom relations, the French Minister considered that a trade agreement by “the end of October” with London was “not only possible, but desirable, but not at any cost”. “We don't want tariffs and quotas, so zero dumping”, he added. He stressed the EU27’s committal to the United Kingdom honouring its signature by complying with the agreement on an orderly Brexit.
The British withdrawal agreement is intended to “prevent the reconstruction of a border to secure peace” in Northern Ireland and to “ensure that all goods entering Northern Ireland are subject to controls as if they were entering the EU”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)