European Commission Lays Out Medium-Term Trade Goals
The European Commission laid out its trade goals for the coming years. In a guiding strategic document Feb. 18, the commission vowed to make its trade agenda more sustainable and capable of tackling modern-era problems. Its trade goals focus on six key areas: 1) reforming the WTO, 2) supporting the green transition and promoting responsible and sustainable value chains, 3) supporting the digital transition and trade in services, 4) strengthening the European Union's regulatory impact, 5) boosting the EU's partnerships with neighboring, enlargement countries and Africa, and 6) strengthening the EU's focus on implementation and enforcement of trade agreements and ensuring a level playing field.
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Central to many of these areas of advancement is creating or expanding trade agreements and partnerships. For instance, the commission plans to negotiate a comprehensive WTO agreement on digital trade to facilitate the digital transition and widen the existing trade agreements with African regional economies to strengthen the EU's relationship with Africa.
The EU's commitment to multilateralism also shines through its recommendations, indicated by the policy prescriptions in its trade agenda and the listing of WTO reform as the first area detailed for change. “Close cooperation with partners will be important in supporting multilateralism and the rules-based international order,” the report said. “The existing international economic governance framework is being undermined. If this continues, it will impact economic relations and trade, and also the security and stability that we take as normal. For these reasons support for effective rules-based multilateralism is a key geopolitical EU interest.” On the WTO, the report calls for policies that would contribute to sustainable development and the restoration of the dispute settlement system.
Deepened trans-Atlantic relations ware also central to the commission's trade goals, with the report mentioning EU-U.S. ties in the context of WTO reform and facilitating the digital and green transitions. “The transatlantic relationship is the biggest and most economically significant partnership in the world,” the report said. “It is deeply rooted in common interests and values. The new US administration provides an opportunity to work together to reform the WTO, including by reinforcing its capacity to tackle competitive distortions and to contribute to sustainable development. It also offers new prospects to cooperate closely on the green and digital transformation of our economies. The EU will therefore give priority to strengthening its partnership with the US.”