“We see the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements as our main task for the upcoming months”, the Czech Minister for Trade, Jozef Síkela, told MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA), on 13 July.
With regard to ratifying agreements for which negotiations have already been concluded, “it is clear that the EU has to do its homework. It’s a question of credibility”, he said. He confirmed that with regard to the recently concluded agreement with New Zealand, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council wanted to see ratification as soon as possible. Many MEPs welcomed the presentation of the minister’s trade priorities, especially from the EPP and ECR groups as well as some Renew Europe MEPs, such as Jordi Cañas (Spanish).
Mr Síkela stressed the Czech Presidency of the EU Council’s willingness to make progress on agreements with Latin America: “We will do our utmost to create conditions to progress on the agreements with Mexico Chile and Mercosur agreements”, he said.
While the ratification and negotiation of agreements have been slowed down in recent years due to reluctance within the European Parliament, but also in some Member States, several MEPs, such as Christophe Hansen (EPP, Luxembourger) and Jordi Cañas, asked the minister how he intended to convince his counterparts to move towards more Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
This is an important issue for the Czech minister and comes at a crucial time. “This is about the export of our values. Our competitors, who also want to export their values, are extremely aggressive”, he explained. He added that he has held positions in international banking and brings with him some experience of how the business of trade works and what doesn't work.
In addition to increasing the number of FTAs, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council also wants to focus on work at the World Trade Organization (WTO), transatlantic relations, trade and security, and digital trade.
The subject of China was only briefly touched upon by the minister, who in any case recalled the need for the EU to be united against Beijing. On the Indo-Pacific region, he confirmed his intention to strengthen ties, first making progress on trade agreements with Australia, Indonesia and India. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)