The European Union’s trade ministers, meeting in Marseilles on 13 and 14 February, held talks with the director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. According to the French Minister, Franck Riester, host of the informal meeting, they agreed that “the end of June was the right time” to organise the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), which should have been held at the end of November 2021, but which had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Irish Minister, Leo Varadkar, gave a more precise indication of a deadline, saying that the MC12 would take place “hopefully in June”.
On 3 June, the ministers will meet in Luxembourg for a ‘Trade’ Council of the EU. On this occasion, they could prepare the Geneva meeting and adopt their “pre-MC12” declaration (see EUROPE 12841/18).
Patents on Covid-19 vaccines
At their working dinner, the ministers and the WTO Director General again discussed the thorny issue of the lifting of the patents on Covid-19 vaccines.
Mr Varadkar said he was “disappointed” that there was still no agreement. “I don't think we should wait for the next variant”, he told the press.
In January, Ms Okonjo-Iweala said she hoped for an agreement by the end of February (see EUROPE 12879/24).
For Mr Riester, the Commission has already made progress and proposals in this negotiation work.
The EU Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, told EUROPE that the EU is “engaged in intensive discussions, in a quadrilateral way, with India, South Africa and the United States”. However, it is difficult to establish a timetable for an agreement, he said.
According to two different sources, the ongoing negotiations have recently slowed down.
Ministers reiterated their support for the Commission’s approach of exploring TRIPS flexibilities such as compulsory licences (see EUROPE 12734/1). While those interviewed all say they are open to discussion and flexibility, they do not seem ready to give in on lifting patents.
“We are very robust in our view from the EU’s point of view. All Member States are very like-minded on that: we need to see how to find flexible solutions, but the patent protection is so important. It’s at the core of the innovation process”, the Swedish Minister, Anna Hallberg, told EUROPE.
Other topics
Ministers also recalled the need to reach an agreement in the WTO on fisheries, and on initiatives related to sustainable development. They were able to discuss the idea of bringing together a coalition of trade ministers on climate issues.
Interviewed by EUROPE, Commissioner Dombrovskis said that the initiative was largely welcomed by ministers and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Finally, participants reiterated their call for the establishment of a working group on WTO reform, with the aim of obtaining a result within 2 years. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)