There is a sense of fatalism among members of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA). On Thursday 2 September, they posed a series of questions to four experts on the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and possible ways to achieve it.
Many of them are concerned about the current obstacles on several issues, from subsidies to companies in the fisheries and industrial sectors to the blocking of the WTO Appellate Body. Inma Rodríguez-Piñero (S&D, Spain) expressed concern, among other things, about the lack of will of some WTO members. “How do we make China take responsibility and follow the rules?” she asked.
In this respect, the four experts present at the meeting proposed a number of ideas that caught the attention of some elected representatives.
Jürgen Matthes of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research proposed a regional plurilateral partnership of “countries of goodwill” as an alternative to the WTO, as a warning to China to comply with international rules. “Another goal of this approach would be to increase EU representation in the Indo-Pacific region and to cooperate with the US on China. [...] This would also provide a backdoor in case China does not want to move forward. This could be turned into an alternative to the WTO as a very last resort”, he said.
Some members of the INTA Committee did not appear to be completely opposed to this option. This is the case for Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourg) and Markus Buchheit (ID, Germany). Other groups expressed curiosity about this proposal and about the other interventions.
Negotiating differently
For Simon Evenett, professor and founder of the St Gallen Endowment for Prosperity through Trade, this approach of putting the WTO at risk is dangerous. He said that the work to bring about change must now be done at the national level rather than through discussions at the WTO between diplomats. “I would like to see a lot more achieved at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in November, but I think we will only make meagre progress”, he warned. This does not mean, for him, that the WTO should be abandoned, but rather that the tactics for reform should be changed.
In an online conference organised by the Bruegel Institute on Thursday 2 September, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reiterated her vision for the outcome of the 12th Ministerial Conference: “Realistically, we try to focus on a small number of topics and not take a ‘catch-all’ approach. I expect results in three areas: fisheries subsidies, trade and health, and finally, perhaps, on agriculture”, she said.
The European Commission is also aware that few concrete results can be expected by the end of the year. However, it is convinced that the 12th Ministerial Conference is a key element in getting the WTO back on track.
Antonio Fernandez-Martos, Head of Unit for Multilateral Affairs and the WTO at the European Commission’s DG Trade, said that the US had not yet given any concrete indication of how to resolve the blockage on the Appellate Body issue.
As for China and the problem of subsidies, discussions must continue, he said. He believes that the EU’s trade defence tools, as well as increased cooperation with the US, are incentives that could ultimately lead China in the right direction.
Finally, the WTO is expected to address climate, which has so far received little attention, according to Pamela Coke-Hamilton of the International Trade Centre. “Climate change is not formally on the WTO agenda. This must change”, she said. Several elected representatives agreed. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)