EU sets assertive trade strategy for next five years

The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled an assertive trade strategy for the next five years in a bid to open foreign markets for European Union (EU) businesses.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said trade was working for Europe's economic recovery by ensuring growth and jobs.

"A renewed trade strategy will open markets and connect Europe to the main sources and regions of global growth ... My aim is to ensure that European business gets a fair deal and that our rights are respected so that all of us can enjoy the benefits of trade," he said.

The commission said the new strategy focused on a more assertive trade policy that involved delivering what has already been underway and adapting the EU's approach to changes in the global economy.

Market access would continue to be a central part of the new strategy, with particular attention on issues such as intellectual property protection, access to key raw materials and energy security.

The commission was ready to table a legislative proposal next year for a new EU instrument that would help secure access to public procurement markets in developed countries and large emerging market economies.

Public procurement markets are lucrative as they account for over 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in large developed countries and are taking up a growing share in emerging economies.

The EU had said its procurement market is one of the most open, but European businesses cannot always get equal or easy access to foreign markets.

By introducing a new instrument to force others to open public procurement markets, the EU is running the risk of more trade frictions. Its frequent use of traditional trade defense instruments, such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, have already met criticism from trading partners.

The new strategy also called for a closer relationship with strategic partners such as the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Brazil to better facilitate trade and investment.

The EU already has structured dialogues on trade and regulatory issues with China and the United States, its two largest markets.

When deepening trade relations with strategic partners, the main focus would be on tackling non-tariff barriers, the commission said.

The EU is currently negotiating free trade agreements with India and several other trading partners. Besides the bilateral approach, the 27-member bloc is also pushing for a conclusion of the Doha Round of global trade talks.

The commission said it aimed to conclude the Doha Round of global trade talks by the end of 2011.

The commission has said in estimates that completing these bilateral and global trade deals would increase the EU's GDP by more than one percent per year, create more jobs and help it exit the crisis.

With a new mandate, the commission said it stood ready to start negotiating comprehensive investment provisions with some of the EU's key trading partners.

The Lisbon Treaty, which came into force in December, gave the EU the role to negotiate future deals on how EU investments in foreign countries are protected and how to improve conditions for making such investment.

Previously, the EU member states built only a common trade policy, while investment remained within the national competence.

The EU is now the world's largest trading bloc. It exported goods and services worth 1.6 trillion euros (2.2 trillion U.S. dollars) last year, equivalent to 13 percent of EU's GDP, while the EU imports were about the same, according to EU figures.

The 27-member bloc is also the greatest source of foreign direct investment abroad, and it attracted 221.7 billion euros (308.5 billion dollars) of foreign direct investment in 2009, accounting for 29 percent of the global total.
(Source:xinhua)