Juncker: EU must focus on ‘progressive’ trade policies

At the European Commission State of the Union Address earlier this week, EC President Jean-Claude Juncker detailed three concrete initiatives for enhanced trade policies in the European Union.

   President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission focused on cohesive and “progressive” trade policy at his State of the Union Address earlier this week.
   “The European Commission works to ensure that EU trade policy evolves to meet the Union’s overarching economic and political aims, including by enhancing coherence between trade policy and other EU external and internal policies,” including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the European Agenda on Migration and the European Agenda on Security, said Juncker.
   “A robust and progressive policy agenda must respond to the current opportunities and challenges Europe faces, while furthering Europe’s essential interests,” said Juncker. He proposed three concrete initiatives to the EU trade agenda, including regulations for foreign investment screenings, open negotiations for trade with Oceania and the creation of a multilateral court for investment disputes.
   The recent trade agreements with Canada and Japan will provide the basis for agreements with Australia and New Zealand as well as open up dialogue with Chile, Juncker said.
   “The goal of these agreements is to promote sustainable growth by expanding trade, providing a solid platform for deepening economic ties with the whole Asia-Pacific region, and expand the alliance of partners committed to progressive rules for global trade,” he added.
   According to the EC, the recommendation to open negotiations with Australia and New Zealand “covers a broad list of subjects fully covered by the EU’s common commercial policy,” including the trade liberalization, services and foreign direct investment, public procurement, global rules aimed at ensuring a level playing field and ambitious sustainable development chapters.
   Negotiations with Australia and New Zealand are slated for conclusion by March 2019, said Juncker.
   The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will be provisionally applied later this month, while the Japan agreement will undergo intensive work in order to conclude a final text of the agreement by the end of the year, said Juncker.
   “These wide-reaching agreements will for example remove the vast majority of duties paid by EU companies on their trade with Canada and with Japan and will open markets to EU exports, including agriculture, food and drinks. The agreements will remove barriers across a number of services sectors and further promote an innovative and competitive economy, making it easier for all companies, and especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to do business,” said Juncker.
   Juncker also stated that trade recommendations would be published for general public viewing. Furthermore, the EC president stated that a group of representatives from trade unions, consumer groups and other non-governmental organizations would be created to provide advice on EU trade agreements to further emphasis transparency.