The European Commission presented its vision of EU trade policy on Thursday 18 February. According to the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, three watchwords sum up this new strategy: “open, sustainable and assertive”.
The idea is to ensure the EU’s dominance in world trade and to defend its interests first and foremost. “We need a trade policy that supports the Europe’s wider ambitions”, said the Commissioner. Highly anticipating its future relations with the United States and China, the Commission assumes that it wants to move closer to the former, but remains cautious about the latter.
CHINA
While the investment agreement with China is increasingly criticised within civil society and the European Parliament, the Commission is trying to reassure that the agreement is only one of the solutions to the many problems that arise. “We need to develop autonomous tools to react in case of instability. We don’t put all our eggs in the same basket”, says an EU official.
Implementation of sustainable development chapters in the agreements
The Commission takes another step towards the European Parliament. Regarding the future 15-point action plan on the implementation of sustainable development chapters in trade agreements, the Commission now includes “the possibility of sanctions for non-compliance” of commitments by partner countries. It did not mention this measure in the preparatory document we consulted and detailed (see EUROPE 12660/4). However, the concrete measures included in the Action Plan are not expected to be presented before 2022, following a public consultation in the spring of this year.
Commission seeks views on a new instrument to counter coercive measures
In parallel with the publication of its trade strategy, the European Commission published, on 18 February, an impact assessment on a new mechanism to prevent coercive measures by non-Member States. It has opened feedback on this document for the period of 17 February to 17 March, during which it is collecting opinions for a wider public consultation at the end of March. This measure is one of the instruments on which the Commission wants to base its trade policy. It aims to counter practices by non-Member States to put pressure on the EU or its Member States to take or withdraw particular measures.
See the document open to feedback: https://bit.ly/3k1NpLx
The proposal to counter foreign subsidies on the European market should also be presented before the summer, according to an EU official.
Finally, the Commission adds that it will make a legislative proposal for the implementation of trade-related provisions under the agreement with the United Kingdom.
Reactions
Reactions from the European Parliament were mixed after the Commission’s announcements. “We were expecting more than that”, MEP Emmanuel Maurel (The Left, France), told EUROPE. He said the Commission’s approach on environmental requirements was disappointing: “There are some nice phrases about sustainable development and trade, but they don’t fit the reality. On the agreement with Mercosur, there are still no binding measures”. This view is shared by the Greens/EFA group: “As with the Common Agricultural Policy, the Commission is missing a historic turning point in its trade policy by not proposing the necessary paradigm shift”, says MEP Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA, Belgium).
For Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe, France), the reception is mixed. She sees positive elements, such as the emphasis on multilateralism or the role of the Commission’s Head of Service for Trade Implementation, Denis Redonnet. “There are elements on due diligence, foreign subsidies; it shows that we are more offensive, that we are putting an end to naivety. On the other hand, on sustainable development it is still weak, it lacks robust proposals”, she explained to EUROPE.
Finally, the EPP welcomed the direction that the Commission wants to take. The group had expressed a strong preference for open, but rules-based trade. “This trade policy review charts an assertive course towards more sustainability, while steering clear of the pitfalls of weaponised trade policy, protectionism or unilateralism”, says MEP Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg). Lastly, the conservative group (ECR) in turn congratulated the Commission for its willingness to support “open strategic autonomy, multilateralism, strong alliances in the world, a stronger EU in the digital field and more sustainable trade”, declared MEP Geert Bourgeois (ECR Belgium).
The director of the employers’ federation BusinessEurope, Markus J. Beyrer, said: “We welcome the concrete proposals presented today by the European Commission that can, step-by-step, lead the World Trade Organization (WTO) out of the current crisis”. In fact, the European Commission has largely underlined its willingness to commit itself at WTO level to a thorough reform of the organisation. “We’re confident on this side, because we have a new administration in the United States; a new Director-General has just been appointed at the head of the WTO, so there’s momentum. I think this is a good starting point for the negotiations”, Mr Dombrovskis said. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)