EU exports increased thanks to tighter implementation and enforcement of trade agreements and global rules – The European Sting – Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology
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The effective implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements and international trade rules added 5.4 billion euros to EU exports in 2020. This confirms that the efforts of the European Commission are paying off. fruits. The tangible results range from removing trade barriers to tackling unfair trade practices and taking action to promote trade and sustainable development. Over the past year, the Commission has also developed other legal instruments to strengthen the EU’s capacity to defend its main interests and protect its open strategic autonomy.
The Commission’s first comprehensive annual report on implementation and enforcement, published today, outlines the actions of the Commission, in close partnership with EU businesses, Member States and stakeholders, to keep markets open and ensure that EU trading partners honor their commitments. The report covers four priority areas: (1) taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by EU trade agreements; (2) Support the adoption of trade agreements by small businesses; (3) tackle trade barriers; (4) Enforce trade commitments through dispute settlement.
Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis noted: “A strong trade policy consists of ensuring that our partners honor their international commitments and, in so doing, directly support European businesses and jobs. As this report shows, we are making real progress on both fronts. We now have an EU Chief Trade Enforcement Officer who is fully dedicated to the enforcement and implementation of our trade agreements, and ensures that our SMEs – which are the backbone of the European economy – make the most of our trade agreements. We will soon unveil proposals to better defend our business interests with a new anti-coercion tool. “
The concrete action of the Commission over the past year has continued to facilitate EU exports and defend the main interests of the EU. Specifically:
- The Commission has removed 33 trade barriers in 22 partner countries.
- European companies exported 4 billion euros more in 2020 than they would have without the removal of barriers over the past 5 years.
- The Commission has launched its award-winning online market access platform, which provides essential support to 584,000 SMEs so that they can export more easily and quickly. Over the past year, businesses have shown a keen appetite for clear and practical information on how to do business across EU borders, with over 1.5 million visitors using the platform. in just a year.
- The single point of entry for complaints established in November 2020 has transformed the way businesses and stakeholders can report trade barriers or breaches of trade and sustainable development commitments by partner countries to the Commission . It has already given rise to 29 formal complaints which the Commission is investigating.
- The Commission has made progress on several dispute settlement actions, including on labor rights, either at the WTO or under EU trade agreements. The trading partners and sectors involved are Turkey and pharmaceuticals, Indonesia and raw materials, and Ukraine and timber. In January 2021, the Commission won its first bilateral dispute over labor rights issues in the EU-South Korea trade agreement, leading South Korea to take steps to ratify and implement important labor conventions. the ILO to protect workers’ rights.
Last year, the Commission also took decisive action to uphold its rights and defend its values more assertively, in order to better defend its interests. It is also finalizing important legislation to further improve enforcement and enforcement:
- New Foreign direct investment The filtering mechanism in force since October 2020 allows EU Member States and the Commission to learn about transactions, cooperate and coordinate their actions on these foreign investments. Member States can also share their views on the potential impact on security and / or public order in their territory of investments made in another Member State. The Commission may do the same if it considers that individual investments are liable to affect the security or public order of more than one Member State, or if they are liable to affect projects or programs of interest to the Member State. Union for reasons of security or public order.
- In September 2021, the EU updated Export control the rules came into effect. The new framework strengthens our ability to control the export of dual-use technologies and gives the Union greater autonomy to do so.
- The Commission is preparing a legislative proposal for a new anti-coercion instrument which will allow the EU to respond to attempts by other countries to force the EU or its countries to make policy changes.
- The Commission has proposed an international procurement instrument which will help to ensure a level playing field in the global public procurement market. It is currently with the European Parliament and the Council (or similar).
- Likewise, a new tool is being prepared to tackle the potential distorting effects of foreign subsidies on the single market. The new tool is designed to effectively tackle foreign subsidies that distort and undermine a level playing field in the single market, regardless of the market situation.
