Brussels, 03/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The EU and thirteen candidate countries agreed to pursue and intensify their close coordination with a view to the next round of multilateral trade talks within the WTO. They also agreed to grant special priority to the settlement - before the end of the year - of the last trade aspects in the EU enlargement negotiations. This was the main outcome of the meeting held last Friday and Saturday in La Valette (Malta) attended by the trade ministers of the candidate countries, the Spanish EU Council Presidency and EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. "They agreed to give priority in coming months to tackling all remaining questions in the trade field, thereby contributing to the rapid conclusion of accession negotiations", it is stipulated in the conclusions approved in La Valette. While bilateral trade between the candidate countries and the EU is now largely liberalised (except for a number of sensitive products), several candidates still have progress to make in order to finalise the process for adjusting their internal trade rules to acquis communautaire in time. Candidates also raised the question of steel. They mainly expressed fear concerning the impact that safeguard measures recently taken by the EU in response to the spectacular rise in US tariffs on steel imports to the United States could have on their steel imports to the EU (the EU took these measures to protect itself against an eventual inflow of steel deflected from the American market). Mr Lamy explained that European measures (established for a provisional six-month period) take "traditional trade flows" between the candidates and the EU sufficiently into account and that, as a consequence, these measures should not have an impact on CEEC steel imports to the Fifteen.
Candidate countries and EU representatives noted in Malta that there was wide consensus on the policy to be carried out at WTO level. All thus reaffirmed their opposition to unilateralism and their support for the launching of the Doha development agenda. Ministers also expressed the hope that the multilateral negotiation process would now enter a "more intensive" phase. Commissioner Lamy explained to candidate countries the EU's trade policy towards third countries as well as Europe's determination to support regional integration in the Balkans, between the former USSR countries, in Latin America or between ACP countries. All those taking part at the La Valette meeting stressed the importance of ensuring that Russia and Ukraine may join the WTO as soon as possible.