The Trade Ministers of the Member States of the European Union had an exchange of views on Tuesday 2 March on the recent Communication from the European Commission on the EU Trade Policy Review.
“The feedback from the trade ministers was generally positive. There is strong support for this direction of trade policy”, said the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, at the end of the meeting.
German Trade Minister Peter Altmaier was very enthusiastic about the presentation. “I welcome the fact that the new trade policy embraces fundamental future issues such as sustainability and digitalisation”, he said after the meeting.
For the French Minister of Trade, Franck Riester, “this new strategy goes in the direction we want”. He welcomed a stronger trade policy on the implementation of agreements, with emphasis on the role of the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, Denis Redonnet: “this was an important demand from France”, he told the press on Tuesday.
The three main pillars of this new strategy are trade openness, sustainability, and the EU’s assertion on the world stage (see EUROPE 12661/1, 12660/4).
The Portuguese minister, Augusto Santos Silva, confirmed that the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council plans to adopt the conclusions on this trade policy review at the next meeting of ministers on 20 May.
Mercosur. With regard to the much-discussed issue of the agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries, Augusto Santos Silva pointed out that clarifications on the fight against deforestation and the application of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are being awaited to complete the agreement.
“The contacts I have had with my Mercosur counterparts lead me to believe that these clarifications can be made”, he stressed. Commissioner Dombrovskis added that the Commission has also been in contact with the Mercosur authorities on this issue.
The agreement is still subject to much criticism from some Member States, which oppose its ratification in its current state.
Following the meeting, Franck Riester stated that concrete commitments are expected. “We will not be content with a mere political statement in parallel to the agreement. We want very clear guarantees, with means of verification, on deforestation, but also compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary standards and respect for the Paris Agreement”, he stressed.
There is no question of France accepting commitments that are not legally sound, according to him. The Luxembourg minister, Jean Asselborn, shared the same opinion on the need for a binding framework. “Without such a framework, a conclusion will not be possible”, he said. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)