The European Commission presented on 14 October a new trade and investment strategy, Trade for All. It says this is a more responsible approach which responds to new economic realities in line with the EU’s foreign policy. Based on three key principles – effectiveness, transparency and values – it ensures trade policy benefits as many people as possible.
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The Commission is proposing a new trade and investment strategy for the European Union, entitled Trade for All: Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy.
The new approach builds on Europe’s excellent trade track record. EU companies export nearly as much as China to the rest of the world and more than firms in the United States or any other country.
More than 30 million jobs already depend on exports outside the EU. 90% of future global growth will happen outside Europe’s borders. A new strategy that will make trade agreements more effective and that will create more opportunities means supporting jobs in Europe.
The new strategy is also a direct response to the current intense debate on trade in the EU including on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is being negotiated with the United States. It is also an implementation of the Juncker Commission’s pledge to listen and respond to European publics concerns.
The Commission says the new strategy will make EU trade policy more responsible by basing it on three key principles:
- Effectiveness: Making sure trade actually delivers on its promise of new economic opportunities. That means addressing the issues that affect today’s economy, which involves services and digital trade. It also means providing the means and information necessary to ensure European small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), consumers and workers can take full advantage of and adapt to more open markets. This means, for instance, including effective provisions for SMEs in future trade agreements.
- Transparency: Opening up negotiations to more public scrutiny by publishing key negotiating texts from all negotiations, as has been done in the TTIP negotiations. As of today, the Commission has already published some new texts (i.e. the Economic Partnership Agreements with East and West Africa) on its website.
- Values: Safeguarding the European social and regulatory model at home. Using trade agreements and preference programmes as levers to promote, around the world, European values like sustainable development, human rights, fair and ethical trade and the fight against corruption. This means to include anti-corruption rules in the EU’s trade agreements, and to see that our trading partners implement provisions on core labour standards, like the rights of workers to organise and the abolition of child labour. It also means broadening efforts to ensure responsible management of supply chains.
A responsible EU trade strategy also requires an up-to-date programme of trade negotiations that can help shape globalisation to the benefit of European citizens, companies and beyond:
- It prioritises concluding major ongoing projects like the Doha Round of WTO talks, TTIP, the EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA) and the EU-China investment agreement.
- It opens the door to new negotiations in the vital Asia-Pacific region (like Free Trade Agreements with Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia) and plans a deepening of the EUs relationships with African partners. This includes specifically requesting a mandate from EU Member States for free trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand.
- Modernising existing Free Trade Agreements with Mexico and Chile and the Customs Union with Turkey.
A responsible EU trade strategy has also to be in touch with the big challenges of our time. That’s why, just as the European Agenda for Migration calls for the better use of synergies across policy areas in order to incentivise the cooperation of third countries on migration and refugee issues, the trade policy should take into account the policy framework for the return and readmission of irregular migrants and, where relevant, visa facilitation.
Communication: Trade for all – Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy
