EU to force access to foreign public procurement markets

The European Commission said Tuesday it would propose a new instrument to punish those countries which denied equal access to their public procurement markets for European businesses.

"In 2011, the commission will make a legislative proposal for an EU instrument to help secure and increase symmetry in access to public procurement markets in developed countries and large emerging market economies," the European Union (EU)'s executive arm said in a document outlining a new trade strategy for the 27-nation trading bloc.

In the document, "Trade, Growth and World Affairs," the commission said it would take a more assertive approach to reducing trade barriers, opening global markets and getting a fair deal for European businesses.

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

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht suggested that, with the new instrument, the EU should be able to take tit-for-tat actions against trading partners whose public procurement markets remained closed to European companies.

Public procurement markets are lucrative accounting for more than 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in large developed countries and a growing share in emerging economies.

However, by introducing a new instrument to force open foreign markets of public procurement, 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, has already met criticism from its trading partners.
(Source:xinhua)