13-07-2010

INTRODUCTION

Mr. President
Honorable Members of Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, please let me thank you, Mr. President, for your kind words of welcome that you just addressed to our Presidency. Your words give me the opportunity to underline my determination to build a relation of confidence between the members of this Committee and the Council in its international trade configuration.

As you know, the Belgian Presidency is part of a Trio Spain-Belgium-Hungary which developed a joint 18-months program.

On the 23rd of June, my Spanish colleague has presented before your assembly the progress in the Council’s work during the first semester. For my part, I hope that we will be able to move towards the objectives that I will now outline, which of course will take into account the Commission’s work program, the ongoing negotiations as well as the implementation of the changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty as to substance and as to new competences for the institutions.

I do not have to remind you of the magnitude of the crisis that we have faced in Europe – and that we are still experiencing today –, and of the need to find sustainable and EU-based solutions.

The common trade policy is a great instrument to stimulate competiveness, economic growth and employment. Of course, it is not  a solution to all problems we face but it is definitely part of the solution if, together with all 27 member States, we show that we are capable to assert our trade interests for the benefit of our citizens, while at the same time supporting the economic development of the poorest countries.

OUR OBJECTIVES

1. Regarding world trade liberalization, the Belgian Presidency still favours the multilateral track; and it is therefore not surprising that the completion of the Doha Development Round remains at the top of our priorities. You are familiar with the European position; I am still convinced that, despite the current timing issues we all know, an agreement would provide a major boost to the world economy – in particular for developing countries – and would contribute to prevent protectionist tendencies.

Of course, the European Union alone cannot make the difference, and the conclusions of the G20 Summit in Toronto at the end of June, even though they call for an evaluation at the Seoul Summit in November, warrant realism regarding the schedule.

It is clear that if there were to be new developments, the Presidency, together with the Commission, will inform members of Parliament, as happened in the past, and as prescribed by the Treaty.

2. Negotiating regional and bilateral free trade agreements will never aim to replace multilateral agreements.  This is not their goal, but, on the other hand, they complete trade liberalization negotiated at the WTO and help develop arrangements for matters not subject to WTO discussions. 

The Presidency will work to achieve progress in the ongoing negotiations at regional level, among others with Euromed, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Mercosur, as well as bilaterally with countries such as India, Singapore, Canada and Ukraine, and where possible, the Presidency will aim at concluding agreements.

REGIONAL NEGOTIATIONS

While saying this, I am aware of the particularities of each of regional negotiations, and of the fact that several of them have been going on for quite some time, or have been suspended for years. When assessing the potential for conclusion of such agreements, all elements should be taken into account, in the same way as we take into consideration the whole of Member State interests.
 
The Council will closely monitor developments in these negotiations, on the basis of the Commission’s reports and bearing in mind the conditions that negotiation directives impose.

For an EU-Mercosur agreement to be successful, it must clearly address all aspects in which we are interested in an ambitious way, notably in the core areas of industrial goods, services and agriculture, as well as the protection of intellectual property rights and government procurement. 

Concerning the Euromed negotiations, you know the objective; a free trade area providing progressive liberalization of trade in goods and services, that contributes to the sustainable development of the region and that includes legally binding provisions in the field of trade and economic regulation.

You will remember that, at the end of last year, a roadmap had been set up to move the process forward beyond 2010.  With the Commission and our partners, we will have to take stock of the situation in the coming months.

Regarding Central America, the Council does not yet have a formal Commission proposal to sign the agreement which was finalized in May. The Council shall adopt its decision after obtaining the assent of the European Parliament, as foreseen in article 218(6) a of the Treaty.  

Finally, returning for a moment to the negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (CCG), and despite the progress that we made on numerous issues, some questions remain unresolved, in particular in the field of trade.
 
A joint Council recently met for the 20th time and discussed export duties. We will closely monitor all positive developments.

BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS

Not surprisingly, I can confirm you that finalising the agreement with South Korea is the top priority of our bilateral agenda.

As you know, we are currently discussing the safeguard clause with you. The process that has to lead to the decision to sign and to provisionally apply the agreement, after the European Parliament has pronounced itself on it, has been launched.

This agreement is the most ambitious deal that the European Union has ever negotiated since the Global Europe strategy was adopted in October 2006. The Council is well aware of this, as well as of the need to assess the agreement in all its political and economic dimensions, to find a balance between everyone’s interests and to ensure the effectiveness of the safeguard clause.

We will do our utmost to put the European Parliament in a position to receive the final text of the agreement when it reassembles after summer, and then to give its assent. 

You will certainly remember that the process of negotiation of an agreement between the EU and the Asean countries proved to be extremely slow and difficult to conclude. As a consequence, the two parties agreed to pause regional talks and to reflect on the most appropriate way to negotiate the FTA's. In light of this situation, the EU has decided to engage on the bilateral track with those countries that are interested, while keeping the prospect of a regional agreement for the long term. Such bilateral FTA’s constitute therefore the “building blocks” to be consolidated later on a regional basis.

With Singapore, two rounds of negotiations have already taken place in 2010 and the next round is foreseen for September.

Negotiations of an FTA with India have started in 2007 and, so far, numerous meetings have been held and have allowed to assess  the expectations of each party. Progress has been made, but difficult areas have emerged over time, such as tariff and procurement issues. We hope to see significant progress in the negotiations this year, but it is hard to predict a conclusion at this stage.

With Canada, the EU negotiates a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), in other words a wide agreement that would deepen our economic and trade relations.
It is an ambitious initiative which results from a joint “scoping exercise”, covering potential benefits for both sides ranging from concessions in the trade of goods and services, public procurement, protection and effective application of intellectual property rights, to commitments on social and environmental aspects of trade and sustainable development.

Here as well, I hope that things will evolve in the right direction and that we will be able to take stock in Autumn, in order to see whether we are on the same wavelength and whether we are able to reach an agreement within a reasonable time.

Ukraine has been on our agenda since 2008. A negotiation round has just taken place. Generally speaking, progress seems difficult at this stage, in particular with regards to matters related to regulatory approximation and to market access for certain sectors. Ukraine is an important partner for the European Union and the Council hopes that negotiations will move forward in the semester to come.

Last thing to mention are the free trade agreements with Peru and Colombia. After the Commission finalised negotiations on the multi-party agreement in March 2010, the Council now awaits the formal proposals of the Commission to start the procedure for signature and conclusion of the agreement.

3. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty brought about major changes for the Common Trade Policy. One of them, a fundamental one, concerns the increased competences of the European Parliament to adopt internal measures implementing the common commercial policy and to conclude international trade agreements.  Also, the Treaty provides for an extensive sharing of information with the Parliament.
 
The Presidency welcomes these important changes and acknowledges with great satisfaction that a close cooperation with the European Parliament in trade matters has already started. We will further make sure that the procedures of the Lisbon Treaty be applied entirely in agreement with the objectives of the Union’s trade policy.

One other major change concerns the new EU exclusive competence for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In the coming months, the Council will look into two fundamental ways to integrate foreign direct investment into the EU orbit : the first one concerns the draft regulation on transition modalities for the existing bilateral agreements and the second one, a communication of the Commission, is dedicated to the future EU policy in this area.

The Council has just received the Commission proposals and the debate can now start. The European Parliament has been informed about the proposal for a Regulation and the Presidency, together with the Commission, will make sure that the European Parliament is kept up to date about the discussions that will begin in the Council. 

The Presidency will strive to move the discussions forward in the most constructive way. We are well aware that this is a major issue that deserves a vast debate and that will require some time.

Our goal is to do most of the groundwork and to allow the Council to settle on the general ideas as soon as possible.

4. TRADE RELATIONS WITH OUR MAIN PARTNERS

In this respect as well, numerous things are to be mentioned that will be the subject of discussions in the weeks and months to come.

You will not be surprised that I here point out Transatlantic relations, Russia and China. 

Needless to say, trade relations with the United States are of paramount importance for the EU. In 2009, in spite of the financial crisis, Europe exported for more than 204 billion euro of goods, against 159.8 billion worth of imports of goods.

In the field of services, 119.4 billion worth of exports were registered, compared to 127 billion of imports.

With regard to direct investments, figures are equally telling.

They show the value and the interdependence of our economies, which  cover an enormous market of over 700 million people. 

 

During our Presidency, we intend to intensify our efforts not only to reinforce our strategic partnership on multilateral issues and on implementing the 2007 programme for economic cooperation and regulatory dialogue, but also to enhance the work of the Transatlantic Economic Council.

No doubt that we have good relations with the United States. However, it is not my intention to downplay the trade irritants that divide us. But we have to work together and make efforts to resolve them. I simply want to remind you that 98% of our trade takes place without any problem. Like elsewhere, the more the European Union is united and speaks with one single voice, the better we are able to defend our views and to make our interests prevail.

Evidently, Russia also appears on the agenda of our Presidency: we have a robust trade relationship with this key partner and, until recently, trade between the two economies has shown steep growth rates. Unfortunately, this trend was interrupted by the crisis and the unilateral measures adopted by Russia which have affected our bilateral trade.

The ongoing WTO accession negotiations and the negotiations on a New Agreement to replace the current Partnership and Co-operation Agreement are at present at the centre of EU - Russia relations.

As you can imagine, the Council is a strong supporter of Russia's WTO accession and welcomes the revived political momentum in Russia on this subject.  The ball is of course still in Russia's court. I’m convinced that WTO membership coupled with substantive trade and investment-related provisions to be included in the New Agreement would improve the quality of EU-Russia trade relations. Both would also perfectly fit into the Partnership for Modernization which has been agreed at the last EU-Russia Summit.

Besides these key issues, the Council clearly supports the continuing of Russia’s engagement to eliminate trade irritants and to dismantle the protectionist measures that were introduced in times of crisis, but that were consolidated through the common external tariff of the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan customs union. The Council has obviously nothing against the establishment of the customs union but is concerned about the possible negative repercussions on the process of Russia's WTO accession and on our bilateral relations.

As far as China is concerned, we are facing a real challenge for the common trade policy. China has become the EU's second trading partner behind the U.S. and is the main source of our imports. We are also China's biggest trading partner.

The EU's open market has largely contributed to China's export-led growth. For its part, the EU has benefited from the growth of the Chinese market and is receptive to a further opening of trade relations.  However, we have to ensure that China trades fairly with us, respects intellectual property rights and meets its WTO obligations.

 

Competition is tough: there is nothing unusual in that, but competition has to be matched with the requirement to ensure a non discriminatory environment on the Chinese market. The EU regularly conveys its concerns on these matters in the bilateral contacts and at the World Trade Organization.  The Council is convinced that the ongoing negotiations with China regarding a broad Partnership and Cooperation agreement can bring about a new and solid framework for our bilateral relations.

5. Let’s now discuss a theme which is at the heart of the Belgian Presidency: the development dimension of trade. This semester, I see three main topics to deal with: the Generalized System of Preferences, the Economic Partnership Agreements and the Banana agreement. 

Regarding the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the ACP countries, our main objective remains unchanged: we need to conclude comprehensive regional EPAs, as only these instruments can deliver development and can revitalize trade flows from and between ACP countries. Such a result is even more important in light of the global financial and economic crisis which has heavily struck the ACP economies and their trade in particular.
The role of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in the overall EU approach to trade and development is particularly important. The European Parliament rightly highlighted in its Resolution of last March the positive role of such an instrument in favour of developing countries.
Nevertheless, nothing is perfect in this world and one wonders whether the current system cannot be improved. In this light, the Commission will propose to revise the system in the coming months.
While sharing the Parliament's call for quickly putting in place this new comprehensive regime, the Council is open to consider an extension of the application of the current GSP Regulation for a limited duration, so as to avoid any possible legal vacuum until the adoption of a new comprehensive Regulation. 
The Bananas agreement recently signed by the EU with the Latin American countries on the one hand and with the United States on the other hand has shown the EU’s capacity to solve a long-standing trading dispute in a constructive manner. Furthermore, it means there is one major issue less which negotiators have to resolve to conclude the Doha Round.
I would specifically like to emphasize in front of you another important aspect of the overall deal reached in Geneva, namely, that the deal also addresses the conflicting but equally legitimate concerns of the Latin American and ACP countries regarding so-called “tropical” and “preference erosion” products. Finally, we should not forget the BAM (Banana Accompanying Measures) package that the EU would provide to the main ACP banana-exporting countries to help them adapt to changes.

 

6. In order to conclude with the agenda of the Presidency, a few words on the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the ACTA.  Your Committee has already discussed this dossier on various occasions, including in the presence of the Council. Hence, I’m not going to recall the historical perspective of these negotiations.
   
I just would like to underline that effective protection of Intellectual Property Rights is a policy priority that was repeatedly endorsed by both our institutions as a major element in our efforts to protect and foster competitiveness, innovation and prosperity of the EU in the globalized economy. 

In response to calls from this Assembly, and aiming at greater transparency, the Council took a proactive role in seeking the release of the consolidated draft negotiating text, so that civil society and stakeholders are informed of what was actually on the negotiating table (and, most importantly, what was not on the table). The Council can only rejoice that the other negotiating partners finally decided to share our views on this matter, enabling a joint release of the negotiated text

The 9th round of negotiations was held in Lucerne from 28 June to 1 July 2010. At its outcome, the participants were fond to recall the framework of the negotiations, as well as the aspects which were not covered such as the “three strikes rule” and the fact that ACTA it is not intended to include new intellectual property rights or to enlarge or diminish existing intellectual property rights.

ACTA will not impede signatories to respect fundamental rights and liberties. It will be consistent with the WTO TRIPS Agreement and the Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. And finally, ACTA will not hinder the cross-border transit of legitimate generic medicines. 

Lastly, let me reiterate the importance that the Council attaches to the new role your Committee and the European Parliament will play in such negotiations under the Lisbon Treaty. I’m confident that your input at the stage of concluding this agreement will prove constructive and conducive to our common objective or effectively protecting IPRs.

Mr. President, Honorable Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Common Commercial Policy stands at a major crossroads.  A new chapter lies before us, and your Parliament, our Parliament, will play a prime role in it. The Belgian Presidency wants to cooperate with you to bring about the major changes we need. On the 31st of December, together, we want to look back and say:

We are on track.

Thank you.

Only spoken word prevails