The Trade Ministers of the 27 EU Member States are meeting in Brussels on Thursday 25 May for a rather busy meeting. On the agenda: relations with the United States, with China, reform of the World Trade Organization, and discussion of trade agreements.
Transatlantic relations
The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will meet for the fourth time on 30-31 May in Luleå, Sweden, and the Trade Ministers meeting in the EU Council will have the opportunity to prepare for this meeting, so to speak (see other news).
The Ministers also hope to obtain answers from the Commission on other aspects of the relationship, more or less independent of the TTC, starting with the ongoing discussions on the critical raw materials partnership (see EUROPE 13129/3). Some delegations also want to take stock of the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the European economy, and of the work of the EU-US Task Force on the IRA.
The EU27 also want to be informed about the ongoing trade related to the long-lasting comprehensive steel and aluminium agreement between the EU and Washington. They want to recall how vital it is to find a deal that secures the EU’s interests as the interim arrangement suspending the respective tariffs on steel and aluminium expires in October 2023.
Relations with Beijing
The Ministers’ meeting will also be an opportunity to review the EU-China relationship from a trade perspective. It is also about preparing the discussion of the European leaders at the European Council in June.
The main principle of de-risking with regards to China without de-coupling seems to be a consensus among the Member States. Ministers should then explore ways to make the European economy more resilient while still heavily dependent on China. They will also look at how to make more use of existing trade defence tools.
WTO reform
With the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) to be held in February 2024, Ministers are expected to report on work underway to achieve results next year. These concern above all the reform of the dispute settlement system, whose appellate body has been blocked by Washington for several years.
Europeans have high expectations of the MC13 and would like to see the US more involved in the process.
The EU also expects results at the WTO on digital and environmental issues. On this last point, Member States hope, for example, to conclude the second phase of the agreement on subsidies for illegal fishing next year. This should be extended to cover subsidies that contribute to overfishing and overcapacity.
Trade agreements
As is tradition, the Commission will use the lunch on Thursday 25 May to inform Ministers about the free trade agreements (FTAs) currently being negotiated or ratified. Member States should focus on the Australia and Mercosur cases in particular.
For the former, the Commission hopes to conclude negotiations by the summer. However, difficulties remain over quotas for certain agricultural products and over geographical indications.
As for the second – the EU/Mercosur agreement – the EU27 are waiting to hear from the Commission, which is currently negotiating an additional protocol on compliance with the chapters on sustainable development with the Mercosur partners.
Negotiations with India, Indonesia and Thailand should also be discussed.
More generally, the issue of the ratification process should be raised, notably by the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, which regrets the slowness of these procedures.
Finally, Thursday’s meeting will allow Trade Ministers to formally adopt the Regulation on trade liberalisation with Ukraine. Approved by the representatives of the Member States on Wednesday 24 May, this text will extend the suspension of tariffs and tariff quotas on imports from Ukraine for one year. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)