EU to promote access for Palestinian exports

EU to promote access for Palestinian exports    EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said Thursday the European Commission is to propose a full opening of the European market to Palestinian exports.
   De Gucht met this week with Palestinian Authority Minister of National Economy Hasan Abu-Libdeh in Brussels.
   “The European Commission is expected to propose granting duty-free, quota-free access for Palestinian exports to the EU in the coming months,” De Gucht said. “This would improve the access of Palestinian exports to EU markets beyond our current free trade agreement and it would help to revamp the private sector. The EU will also continue to support the Palestinian request to become an observer to the World Trade Organization as a first step towards integration into the multilateral trading system and a key part of the state-building process.”
   Abu-Libdeh said improving Palestinian access to the European Market, including facilitation of Palestinian trade with Euromed partners, is “an integral part of the state-building process which we are undergoing with the assistance and guidance of close friends such as the EU.”