On Tuesday 28 November, the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) discussed at length the current state of the various negotiations underway on free trade agreements between the European Union and several third countries, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis.
Several discussions took place earlier in the day, notably on the recent ratification of the agreement to facilitate sustainable investment with Angola (see EUROPE 13295/5), as well as the economic partnership agreement with Kenya (see EUROPE 13204/10).
In the early afternoon, Valdis Dombrovskis reviewed recent developments in trade policy and the progress of certain crucial negotiations.
United States. He began by detailing the current state of negotiations with the United States (see EUROPE 13301/16). “It became clear that the US would not agree to permanently lift tariffs on EU steel and aluminium exports”, he said flatly.
At this stage, the European Commission says it has done everything it can to find solutions, but deplores the Americans’ lack of flexibility. “Our priority now is to ensure that customs duties are not reinstated in January. To avoid an unnecessary escalation, we have agreed that the United States should improve the management of tariff quotas for our steel and aluminium exports”, explained Mr Dombrovskis.
Asked whether an agreement was possible before January, the Commissioner remained cautious, saying that the Europeans were above all seeking to find a way of improving the current situation.
China. In the case of China, he reiterated the Commission’s approach, which is to regard Beijing as both an important trading partner and a competitive rival with considerable means of pressure and influence.
With regard to ongoing negotiations, several MEPs, including Helmut Scholz (The Left, German) and Markus Buchheit (ID, German), expressed their concern about the recent election of Javier Milei as President of Argentina, and its possible repercussions on negotiations under the EU/Mercosur agreement (see EUROPE 13301/17).
“The consequences of his accession to power remain to be seen”, said the Commissioner, for whom “the initial signals seem to be positive”. “Mercosur is of vital and strategic importance to the EU, and we are now engaged in an intense programme of negotiations, with the aim of concluding rapidly”, he added.
WTO. The discussion also focused on the WTO ministerial meeting to be held in Abu Dhabi in February. Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Swedish) has asked for clarification of the European position on this issue.
According to Mr Dombrovskis, the EU has two priorities for this meeting: - “restore a functioning dispute settlement body”; - set up a “process” to strengthen “WTO rules on trade subsidies”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)