The Committee on International Trade
adopted an own-initiative report by Daniel CASPARY (EPP, DE) on a New Trade
Policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 Strategy, in response to the
Commission Communication entitled ‘Trade, Growth and World Affairs on the
future commercial strategy of the EU.
The report stresses that the world has
seen some profound changes over the last few years.
- The Union’s and the United
States’ share in the world’s relative GDP is declining while the emerging countries are rapidly increasing their
performance: while the two biggest developed economies, the Union and
the United States, accounted for 48% of world GDP in the year 2000 (at
PPP), it is now estimated that they will account for 35% of world GDP in
the year 2020, signifying a decline of 27% in their relative joint
economic performance. The Union accounted for 19% of world exports
of goods in the year 1999 and whereas it accounted for 17.1% of world
exports in 2009, signifying a decline of 10% in its relative export
performance.
- Demographic
changes also have an influence on economic performance: the Union’s population is projected to increase by almost
5% by the year 2035, followed by a steady decline thereafter, and the Union’s working age population is expected to start declining from the year 2010 onwards.
- The Union’s economy is highly
dependent on participating in external growth: by 2015, 90% of world growth will be generated outside the Union. 18% of the Union’s labour force, or 36 million jobs, are dependent on the Union’s trade performance. It is paramount to harness, and benefit from, the growth
potential inherent in increasing productivity, and the growth potential
inherent in external trade.
A real future trade strategy: the committee regrets that many targeted goals of the Global Europe Strategy have not been
reached as yet. It insists that the Union needs a coherent long-term trade
strategy in order to take account of the challenges ahead and in particular
of the major emerging countries. Members insist that such a strategy should
be based on a thorough analysis of the current trends in world trade, the Union’s internal and external development as well as the diversity of European enterprises,
their know-how and their technological advances. Regretting that the
Communication fails to deliver a profound forecast of how the ‘world of
trade’ could look in a policy-planning perspective of 15 to 20 years, Members
ask the Commission to deliver such a forecast as a basis and to present a
revised mid-and long-term trade strategy by summer 2012.
The report makes the following
principal recommendations :
- a modern trade policy is required to
take into account other policy areas such as human
rights, securing and creation of jobs, labour rights and
ILO core labour standards, agricultural policy, climate
change, the fight against poverty, development policy,
security of raw materials and energy supply, and the protection of
intellectual property rights;
- citizens must be taken on board, with a better communication strategy on the Union’s trade policy and the advantages and disadvantages of international trade;
- preference for a multilateral
approach within the WTO: the multilateral
trading system, embodied in the WTO, remains by far the best framework
for achieving free and fair trade on a global basis. However, the WTO
system, in particular the Dispute Settlement Body, should be reformed in
order to increase its effectiveness;
- Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are
important instruments for market access:
Members reiterate that all new FTAs concluded by the EU should be
WTO-compatible, comprehensive, ambitious including with regard to
sustainable development, balanced and lead to real reciprocal market
access. It must go beyond both existing multilateral commitments and
those expected to result from a successful conclusion of the DDA ;
- high-level dialogues with major
trading partners such as the US,
China, Japan and Russia must produce more and better results : the
Commission is asked to conduct more proactive negotiations with a view
to successful progress in our trade relations with these countries aimed
at eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, in particular in respect
of technical standards, intellectual property rights, market access,
public procurement and supply of raw materials;
- open markets and
market access are still the main focus : the Commission and Member States must to do more to
promote the use of existing initiatives and tools available such as the
‘market access database’ and the ‘export helpdesk’, so that citizens and
SMEs can take full advantage of the EU’s trading relations. However,
Members stress that the Union as a relatively open economy
needs effective trade defence instruments in order to protect European
producers against unfair trading practices.
The report also stresses that EU
competitiveness and economic success cannot exist without services
and well-protected foreign direct investments. Members ask for positive
reciprocity in international public procurement markets. They also ask for an
ambitious attempt to tackle regulatory barriers within and outside Europe.
Lastly, recalling Parliament’s commitment
to the fight against poverty within and outside the EU, the committee
stresses the need for :
- a sustainable and undistorted supply of
raw materials;
- better customs cooperation inside
and outside the EU;
- adequate
intellectual property rights protection which also bears in
mind the interests of the poorest.