On Monday 12 October MEPs, representatives of the European institutions and civil society discussed the reform of European trade policy, which is the subject of a public consultation until mid-November.
The newly appointed Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, reiterated the concept of combining the EU’s strategic autonomy and openness (‘open strategic autonomy’) (see EUROPE 12571/21). He identified four priorities: – defending a rules-based multilateral trade order; – achieving sustainable development results; – promoting open and fair trade; – stimulating trade negotiations with other regions of the world.
On the link between trade and environmental protection, the Director General of the Commission, Sabine Weyand, hoped that the current debate would avoid providing “simplistic answers to complex questions”. According to her, trade leads both to specialisation – which itself favours a better allocation of resources – as well as to an increase in carbon emissions linked to increased transport. In particular, Ms Weyand argued that trade could also promote the use of ‘clean’ products, with the Commission preparing an initiative in this area.
University of Berkeley Professor Joseph S. Shapiro described the functioning of a potential carbon adjustment mechanism at the EU’s borders, noting that currently only 20% of carbon emissions are subject to a market price.
Among the risks inherent in the EU’s development of such a mechanism, he cited potential reciprocal action on the part of the US and China and the difficulty of measuring carbon emissions by product and manufacturing type. According to Mr Shapiro, EU countries are subsidising climate change by imposing much higher tariffs on clean products than on ‘dirty’ or energy-intensive products, such as cement or steel. Action in this area could have as much impact as the current ETS for CO2 emissions trading. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)