Brussels, 01/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at a conference on access to the market organised by the French Presidency and attended by MEDEF and BusinessEurope, in Paris on 29 November, Catherine Ashton pleaded for the markets to be opened up to European businesses. If the European representatives of the business world stressed the obstacles to export which they have encountered (non-tariff barriers, protection of intellectual property and obstacles to the trade in services), the Trade Commissioner stressed the commitment taken in mid-November by the governments of the main world economies of the G20 to guarantee the opening-up of their markets to trade and investments. Ms Ashton also stressed the need to conclude the Doha Round before the end of the year. At this stage in the multilateral negotiations, the President of BusinessEurope, Ernest Antoine Seillière, stressed the importance of highlighting access to the industrial markets (NAMA), particularly sectorial agreements allowing the total removal of tariff barriers in 14 sectors, including automotives, chemical products, electronics, machinery, raw materials, toys and textiles. Lastly, Ms Ashton raised the subject of the new decentralised partnership launched in April 2007 between the Commission, the Member States of the EU and European industry to improve access to third-country markets in favour of European businesses (EUROPE 9409). According to the Commissioner, teams set up at local level to identify barriers to trade are active in no fewer than 30 emerging markets. The Commission is continuing its efforts to improve the database and information services and to set up a new online register of complaints for European businesses. Among recent examples illustrating the success of this strategy, the Commission listed: - a joint action on the part of industry and the Member States to urge the Japanese authorities to take action on obstacles to trade in vaccines; - the pressure brought to bear on the South Korean authorities to abandon their requirement for the obligatory bottling of wines and spirits, which restricts the access to the market of European whisky producers; - the creation of a working group to improve access to the tyre market in China, Indonesia and India. (E.H./trans.fl)