The various points discussed by the European trade ministers and representatives at an informal meeting in Nicosia on Friday 20 February are part of the current drive to open up trade partnerships around the world, in the face of the might of China and the United States. They are also discussed in the context of the opposite narrative, referred to as the “protectionist” narrative, which consists of developing the EU’s industrial base by advocating ‘Made in Europe’.
China. At the top of the agenda were trade relations between the EU and China, which remain fractious. The EU has been walking a tightrope with Beijing for years, adopting a “de-risking” strategy, while still condemning practices it deems unfair by its partner/rival.
While a consensus seems to be emerging on the need to adopt a more pragmatic but still very cautious approach to resolving trade imbalances, others are more assertive and want to review the EU’s strategy towards China.
This was the case with the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, who did not hesitate to use the term “decoupling” of relations, while the Polish Secretary of State, Michał Baranowski, pointed out that there were “areas in which we can cooperate proactively”.
The European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, chose the term “recalibration”. “Last year’s trade deficit was €360 billion. This is simply not viable in the long term”, he acknowledged.
‘Made in Europe’. Several Member States also strongly emphasised the need to deploy partnerships across the world in order to strengthen internal competitiveness.
“We must bear in mind that [trade] openness must remain a priority”, said David Müller, Director General at the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, he does not set this policy direction in opposition to that of Europe’s preference for public procurement.
Spain spoke of “added value in Europe”, pointing out that the EU was only just beginning to discuss European preference for public support for its industry. Maria Amparo Lopez Senovilla, Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade, said she was waiting for more visibility on the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), the publication of which has been postponed several times (see EUROPE 13810/6).
USA. Trade relations with the United States were not on the agenda but, unsurprisingly, were mentioned several times during the day.
The European Parliament’s permanent rapporteur for EU-US relations, Bernd Lange, took part in the working lunch between ministers and gave an update on a series of current dossiers, including negotiations in the European Parliament on the two regulations governing the reduction or elimination of customs tariffs on a series of American products (see EUROPE 13812/1). These stem from the trade agreement between the EU and the United States, concluded in the summer of 2025.
A number of Member States consider it necessary to conclude these negotiations as quickly as possible.
“I would prefer long-term predictability; so I’m not sure the sunset clause is something that is a great benefit for us”, said Michał Baranowski, referring to the European Parliament’s position, currently under negotiation, which includes introducing a suspension of the main regulation, by the end of March 2028 (see EUROPE 13805/14).
WTO reform. In the face of Chinese and American ambitions, the European Union wants to act as a force for stability and predictability on the trade front, in compliance with WTO rules.
At the 14th ministerial meeting in Yaoundé (Cameroon) at the end of March, the aim is to begin the process of modernising the Organization.
The Member States seemed unanimous on the issue: reform is essential “if we want a system that is fair, predictable and capable of responding to the realities of today’s world”, said Michael Damianos, Cyprus’ Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry.
Acceleration of free trade agreements. The EU is also seeking to reform its legal review and translation process for free trade agreements into 24 languages.
Maroš Šefčovič would like to reduce the duration of this process to under a year, regretting the sums lost due to the slow implementation of these agreements.
In doing so, he referred directly to data reported by BusinessEurope, which indicates that between 2021 and 2025, the EU lost €183 billion in exports as a result of the postponement of the entry into force of the free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries (see EUROPE 13792/2).
He would therefore like to test a pilot ‘fast-track’ approach with the free trade agreements signed with India and Indonesia, possibly with English as the reference language, to speed up the process.
“Of the seven or eight Member States that made representations, all supported this fast-track approach”, Mr Šefčovič announced gladly, indicating that he plans to share more details shortly. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)