In a policy brief published on Tuesday 26 May, the think tank Bruegel sets out several options for revitalising the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The organisation “is experiencing a serious crisis arising from tensions that are internal to the global trading system and other tensions rooted in domestic political constraints in the United States and China and the geopolitical rivalry between them”, the think tank notes.
The document identifies four priority areas: joint action to promote sustainable development, strengthening rules regarding subsidies, facilitating the integration of plurilateral agreements into the WTO framework, as well as reforming the dispute settlement mechanism.
To achieve this, the European Union will have to take the initiative in building “a coalition of middle powers based on its network of free-trade agreements”. The EU can no longer rely on the United States, the primary architects of the multilateral system, as the U.S. has progressively distanced itself from WTO rules. China, for its part, sees an interest in maintaining the status quo and supports moderate reforms.
In this context, the EU and its partners should also stand ready to pursue multilateral initiatives outside the WTO, provided that such initiatives contribute to strengthening the rules-based trading system, Bruegel writes.
The European Union continues to prioritise the organisation’s reform. On Friday 22 May, the EU27 trade ministers reiterated their commitment to the multilateral trading system (see EUROPE 13873/3) and indicated that the EU intends to play a leading role on this issue.
To consult the policy brief: https://aeur.eu/f/m32 (Original version in French by Juliette Verdes)