Brussels, 03/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - Due to concerns about the context of the current crisis that could lead to a degree of protectionism, MEPs on Monday 2 February reiterated their appeal for an agreement on the Doha Round. The European Commission is working on this issue but future success largely depends on a rapprochement of US, Indian and Chinese positions, particularly on the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries. A positive outcome is, however, at risk of stalling due to protectionist signs being given off by the US, which looks like it will be protecting its steel industry. The “Buy American” clause, which is being discussed by the US Senate as part of the $900bn recovery plan, is worrying Europeans. The EU ambassador to the US also warned against a possible backlash provoked by such a measure, which goes against the G20 commitments made at the Washington summit last November and which could set off a protectionist spiral throughout the world.
Despite the failure of the Geneva WTO ministerial conference last July, Catherine Ashton, the commissioner for trade, said that an agreement was almost within their grasp. Ashton believes that 80% of what needed to be done was done. Underlining the importance of keeping markets open, the commissioner warned that the cost of any breach of WTO rules could rise to €260bn and it was therefore vitally important for all parties to bring the Doha Round to a close. Returning from Davos, where trade ministers attending the summit had reaffirmed “the need for a return to the negotiating table”, the commissioner highlighted a number of politically decisive factors: the results of the G20 meeting on 2 April in London, the outcome of the Indian general elections in April, and the direction of the new US administration's trade policy. Some questions still pending include the new proposals planned for the special safeguard mechanism and the cotton dossier, which Commissioner Ashton pointed out still needed to be concluded. She insisted that they were at a “crossroads” but with a little political determination she said that she was sure that all these problems could be resolved.
Georgios Papastamkos (EPP-ED, Greece) stated that “our partners are much less open than we are” and affirmed that maintaining any non-customs barriers is particularly harmful. Glyn Ford (PES, United Kingdom) was the first to express hopes for a “trade policy review” by the new Obama government. Ford also highlighted the Europeans' commitment to free trade and explained that although the trade powers agreed on 80% of all points, they still had to overcome the remaining 20% of disagreements. His Socialist colleague, Francisco Assis (Portugal) also called for “the temptation of protectionism to be resisted”, which he claimed led to widespread impoverishment. The EU must, however, defend European consumer and producer interests because unbridled free trade also leads to serious economic and social problems. The solution is a multilateral agreement with rules guaranteeing everybody's interests. This vision, however, is not shared by Jacky Hénin (GUE-NGL, France), who said that if Doha failed it would be a good thing for poor countries. According to Hénin, the WTO and Commission only considered consumers but not those who produced the wealth. Mr Hénin affirmed that “there is an urgent need to revolutionise the WTO so that it can become democratic”. Marco Pannella (ALDE, Italy) regretted that winds were blowing in from America, India and elsewhere but were not all being taken on board by the EU. He posed the question of how Europe would be able to resist this resurgence of protectionism. The commissioner did not agree, however, that Europe was simply at the mercy of events. She is due to meet the US Representative for Trade at the end of February. (A.B./transl.rh)