[Ecommerce] Mandelson announces EU bilateral trade drive

[Michelle Childs]

Press Release and Press story below


<SNIP>Brussels' new trade orientation, which over the coming weeks will
take the form of a renewed trade strategy with China, protection of
intellectual property rights and removing barriers to trade both home and
abroad, also has a strong bilateral focus, with emerging markets in Asia
to come under the European Commission's beady trade eye.

Quote from Commissioner Mandelson's speech

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/mandelson/speeches_articles/sppm117_=
en.htm

'second, the next steps in our work to protect intellectual property
rights, setting out priority countries for enforcement and co-operation. I
am publishing tomorrow the results of an extensive survey of business on
the IPR problems they face abroad;'


The results of this survey include a summary of enforcement reports for
all key countries ( including India, Brazil, China) . These reports set
out what the Commmission feels are the IPR problems in each country and
what the Commission intends to do about them.

They can be found here:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/cfm/doclib_section.cfm?order=3Ddate&sec=3D=
180&lev=3D2&sta=3D41&en=3D60&page=3D3

Michelle


DG Trade Release:

Trade and competitiveness

New strategy puts EU trade policy at service of European competitiveness
and economic reform

Brussels 4 October 2006



The European Commission has today adopted a new strategy to integrate
trade policy into the European Union=92s competitiveness and economic refor=
m
agenda.

link to strategy:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/october/tradoc_130370.pdf

The policy review (Global Europe: competing in the world) sets out a
strategy for opening new markets abroad for EU companies to trade and
ensuring that European companies are able to compete fairly in those
markets. It also commits Europe to ensuring that its own markets remain
open, arguing that in a global market, with global supply chains, Europe
needs to import to export. It cannot argue for openness from others while
sheltering behind barriers of our own.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "Economic strength at home is
essential to a strong European voice in the world. Trade is indispensable
to creating and sustaining this strength. A changing global economy needs
a new trade policy. An open market is not just a lowered tariff =96 it is a
market in which European companies get a fair deal, with freedom to
compete and legal protection when they do. Europe=92s policy needs to be
clear:rejection of protectionism at home; activism in opening markets
abroad".

A framework for putting trade policy at the service of EU competitiveness

To build a stronger EU economy at home, Europe has to be more competitive
abroad. From Autumn 2006 and through 2007, the European Commission will
set out the competitiveness agenda for EU trade policy with a series of
linked initiatives:

The EU is totally committed to the WTO and the multilateral trading system
is its first priority. It will work to resume and conclude negotiations in
the Doha Development Agenda.

The Commission will propose a new generation of bilateral free trade
agreements with key partners to build on WTO rules by tackling issues
which are not ready for multilateral discussion and by preparing the
ground for the next level of multilateral liberalisation. The key economic
criteria for new FTAs should be market potential - particularly the
emerging markets of Asia.

China will be the single greatest challenge for EU Trade policy in the
years to come. The European Commission will set out a comprehensive new
strategy on China at the end of October 2006.

The European Commission will launch the next stage of its global strategy
for protecting intellectual property rights, with tougher benchmarks for
cracking down on counterfeiting and new cooperation with key partners.

The European Commission will renew its Market AccessStrategy to focus on
non-tariff barriers and ask EU industry to identify key sectors and
priority problems. The European Commission will also produce a new
strategy for ensuring better access for EU companies to major public
procurement markets.

The European Commission will conduct a public consultation to reflect on
and possibly reform the European Union=92s anti-dumping and other trade
defence instruments. Many European companies now have global supply chains
and invest and produce outside of the EU market. The EU economic interests
are global and highly complex. We need to be sure that our trade defence
instruments and our use of them take account of these new realities.





EUObserver story:



http://euobserver.com/9/22569/?rk=3D1

Mandelson announces EU bilateral trade drive

04.10.2006 - 17:27 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS -

Often caught between the whims of protectionist and liberal member states,
the European Commission on Wednesday firmly tied its colours to a liberal
mast proposing a trade policy revamp focused on new markets and stamping
out protectionism.

Announcing the trade paper, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said
"The core message of today's review is clear: rejection of protectionism
at home; activism in opening markets abroad."

Mr Mandelson made the announcement shortly after France and Italy got
their way in a bitter battle over shoe imports resulting in a
protectionist two-year anti-dumping regime being imposed on Chinese and
Vietnamese shoes.

Rejecting the calls of double-standards, Mr Mandelson said "If we are
going to stand for free trade we have to keep proper defences against
unfair trade."

"An open market is not just a lowered tariff, it is a market in which
European companies get a fair deal, with freedom to compete and legal
protection when they do."

Brussels' new trade orientation, which over the coming weeks will take the
form of a renewed trade strategy with China, protection of intellectual
property rights and removing barriers to trade both home and abroad, also
has a strong bilateral focus, with emerging markets in Asia to come under
the European Commission's beady trade eye.

"'The commission will set up a new programme of bilateral free trade
agreements (FTAs) with key partners to build on WTO rules by tackling
issues which are not ready for multilateral discussion and by preparing
the ground for the next level of multilateral liberalisation,' says the
Brussels paper.

"The key economic criteria for new FTAs should be market potential -
particularly the emerging markets of Asia."

Multilateralism?
The bilateral push comes at time when the multilateral WTO talks have been
derailed due to major differences between the EU and US over how much aid
they should be allowed to give their respective farmers.

Mr Mandelson said he strongly supported the so-called Doha WTO round of
talks but added "Doha first has never meant Doha alone."

European businesses welcome the new strategy with UNICE president
Ernest-Antoine Seilli=E8re saying it will "help Europe tackle the major
challenge of the 21st century: competition from the rising emerging trade
powers of Asia and South America."

NGOs have condemned the open markets drive, however.

Environment and social implications
"The new emphasis on regional and bilateral free trade deals will
undermine multilateralism and calls into question the EU's stated
commitment to the World Trade Organisation negotiations," said aid agency
Oxfam.

"It is astoundingly hypocritical for the EU to call on other countries to
open their markets and deal with non-tariff barriers when they have
similar barriers in place and continue to pay vast sums in
trade-distorting farm subsidies," it continues.

Meanwhile, a pan-European coalition of civil society organisations,
Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B), was similarly critical arguing that the
trade initiative will lead to a lowering of social and environmental
standards and increased poverty in developing countries.

"By imposing 'least trade restrictive' criteria, the EU is putting the
breakdown of regulation at the core of its external competitiveness
strategy. It will also place severe limits upon the capacity of
governments to set their own social and environmental protection
policies," it said.

--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
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