EU has renovated its Trade Strategy

The EU Commission is working on a new trade and investment strategy: 
trade_for_all_en_2015.pdf
File Size: 649 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
The new approach builds on Europe's excellent trade track record. More than 30 million jobs already depend on exports outside the EU. 90% of future global growth will happen outside Europe's borders. A new strategy that will make trade agreements more effective and that will create more opportunities means supporting jobs in Europe.

The new approach is also a direct response to the current intense debate on trade in the EU - including on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is also an implementation of the Juncker Commission's pledge to listen and respond to EU citizens' concerns.

It will involve trade policy being more effective at delivering new economic opportunities; more transparent in terms of opening up negotiations to more public scrutiny; and address not just interests but also values. The new strategy addresses all these principles. It also lays out an updated programme of negotiations to put them into practice.

Because transparency is an important topic in the trade debate, the Commission has consulted widely in preparation of the communication, meeting with hundreds of organisations representing civil society and government representatives in Brussels and national capitals.

The Communication will now be considered by Member States in the Council and by the European Parliament, as well as by the European Economic and Social Committee. The actions will be implemented over the course of the current Commission's mandate.
​
What's in the new strategy?

The communication announces a range of initiatives under the headings of effectiveness, transparency, values, and the EU's programme of negotiations. The top 12 are as follows:
A more effective policy that tackles new economic realities and lives up to its promises by:
  • Updating trade policy to take account of the new economic realities such as global value chains, the digital economy and the importance of services.
  • Supporting mobility of experts, senior managers, and service providers.
  • Setting up an enhanced partnership with the Member States, the European Parliament and stakeholders to implement trade and investment agreements better.
  • Including effective SME provisions in future trade agreements.
A more transparent trade and investment policy by:
  • Extending the TTIP transparency initiative to all the EU’s trade negotiations. Some new negotiating texts are already available on the Commission's website.
A trade and investment policy based on values by:
  • Responding to the public’s expectations on regulations and investment: a clear pledge on safeguarding EU regulatory protection and a strategy to lead the reform investment policy globally.
  • Expanding measures to support sustainable development, fair and ethical trade and human rights, including by ensuring effective implementation of related FTA provisions and the Generalised Scheme of Preferences.
  • Including anti-corruption rules in future trade agreements.
A programme of negotiations to shape globalisation by:
  • Reenergising multilateral negotiations and designing an open approach to bilateral and regional agreements, including TTIP.
  • Strengthening our presence in Asia and the Pacific:
    • setting ambitious objectives with China
    • requesting a mandate for FTA negotiations with Australia and New Zealand
    • starting new ASEAN FTA negotiations with the Philippines and Indonesia, when appropriate.
  • Ensuring EPAs are implemented effectively and deepening relationships with African partners that are willing to go further and with the African Union.
  • Modernising existing agreements with Turkey, Mexico and Chile and the Customs Union with Turkey.

Who benefits from the new strategy?

The new trade strategy is focused on making sure as many people as possible have access to the benefits of trade.

Consumers:
  • Consumers already have a wider choice of products at lower prices thanks to the EU's open trade policy. The new trade agreements planned in the strategy will expand this while protecting consumer safety. The Commission will also analyse more closely the impact of trade on prices and choice. 
  • The new strategy also contains actions to increase consumers' confidence in the products they buy:
    • The Commission pledges to protect Europe's levels of consumer, environmental and social protection and will ensure that these will also be enjoyed in EU trade agreements in the future. This will give consumers confidence in the products they buy and how products are made, respecting human rights, social and environmental protection.
    • The Commission's proposed new approach to investment protection safeguards public authorities’ right to regulate in the interest of consumers.
    • The Commission will give greater support to fair and ethical trade schemes and to broader efforts to ensure responsible management of supply chains, helping consumers to make informed, sustainable choices.
    • In the same vein, the new strategy expands measures to fight against corruption, support sustainable development and human rights, including by ensuring effective implementation of related FTA provisions and the Generalised Scheme of Preferences.
Workers:
  • The new strategy will support jobs in Europe by making trade agreements more effective at creating economic opportunities. As 90% of future global growth will happen outside Europe's borders, that means supporting jobs in Europe. More than 30 million jobs - almost one in seven - already depend on exports outside the EU. Completing negotiations with, for example, the US and Japan and launching new negotiations in the Asia Pacific region and in Latin America will help create more jobs like these.
  • Free trade agreements will also contain strong provisions to promote the respect of labour rights around the world. The Commission will make it a priority to see that our trading partners implement provisions on core labour standards like the abolition of child labour, the rights of workers to organise and non-discrimination at work. The TTIP will include strong provisions on key issues like these as well.
  • The Commission will review the performance of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to make it more effective. The fund helps communities adapt when jobs are lost due to international competition.
Citizens:
  • The new strategy will help the public engage with trade policy-making by making the negotiations more transparent.
  • The Commission will, for example, request that the Council publish negotiating mandates and publish EU text proposals online for all negotiations, following the practice in TTIP.

Small and medium-sized enterprises:
  • The new strategy seeks to make it easier for SMEs to take advantage of the opportunities provided by trade agreements by proposing dedicated provisions on SMEs in all negotiations. This will mean:
    • Requesting that trading partners set up dedicated web portals to give access to information on legal requirements for products.
    • Taking SME concerns into account in all parts of trade agreements.
  • Outside of negotiations, the Commission will:
    • Work with the Member States so that they better coordinate how they implement trade agreements with their national strategies to help SMEs go global.
    • Conduct regular surveys on barriers SMEs face in specific markets.

People in developing countries:
  • As the world's largest importer, the EU's deep and open market is already a vital source of income to people in developing countries. The new strategy confirms this basic pro-development stance.
  • It also expands our action to support sustainable development. The EU has been the strongest proponent of ambitiously integrating sustainable development into trade policy in the UN’s 2030 agenda and we will keep promoting this ambition worldwide.
  • It will also give more prominence to human rights concerns in trade work. We will begin intensified dialogue with the developing countries where EU trade has most influence to fight against human rights breaches, in particular those benefitting from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).
  • The Commission's new efforts to support fair and ethical trade schemes and ensure responsible management of supply chains will help improve develop more sustainable trade opportunities for small producers and better conditions for workers in poor countries.

What happens next?
The Communication will be considered by Member States in the Council and by the European Parliament, as well as by the European Economic and Social Committee. It will also be discussed with stakeholders.
On the basis of these discussions, the Commission will assess how implementation should proceed over the course of the current mandate. Some actions – such as those on transparency – can move ahead without delay. Others will take the form of Commission proposals and therefore be subject to normal consultation and decision-making procedures.
Who was involved in preparing the strategy?
The Commission consulted widely with the Member States, the European Parliament and civil society in its preparations for the new strategy.

Member States:
  • In the Council, Ministers discussed the strategy twice, on 14 November 2014 and on 16 March 2015. The issue was also discussed in the Trade Policy Committee on 9 April 2015.
  • The Commission also met individually with representatives of all 28 Member States, in Brussels and during visits to 17 national capitals. In most cases, the Commission met officials from multiple government departments.

The European Parliament
  • Commissioner Malmström informed the International Trade Committee of plans for a new strategy on 3 December, 2014 and on 6 May 2015. She held a detailed discussion with committee members on 13 July 2015.

Stakeholders
  • Civil society dialogues: The Commission held two civil society dialogues on the upcoming strategy, on 21 April 2015 and 8 May 2015. Over 140 organisations from all parts of civil society registered to attend.
  • European Trade Policy Day: The Commission organised an all-day conference on the new strategy on 23 June. Over 450 people participated, again from the full range of civil society and stakeholder organisations, along with national government representatives and several Members of the European Parliament.
  • Dedicated pro-active outreach meetings: During 16 of the Commission's visits to national capitals officials were able to hold dedicated sessions with stakeholders from across a broad spectrum. The Commission also had contacts with a variety of stakeholders in Brussels. In these meetings officials met over 180 organisations.

Documents on the consultation process
Transparency in action
On this page you will find negotiating texts and other documents published since 14 October 2015 related to the EU’s existing trade agreements and ongoing trade negotiations with non-EU countries.
These texts are also available on the various parts of the DG TRADE website.