EU-verklaring over Doha-onderhandelingen in kader van WHO (en)

The EU and the WTO Geneva, 26 July 2011

EU statement on Doha negotiations at the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting to this meeting and for your report.

I will present on behalf of the EU comments on two headings following the lines that you suggested:

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  first, on our work concerning the December package of deliverables for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and
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  second, on the wider debate that you suggested concerning the December Ministerial Meeting and the post December work, which we agree needs to be seen as a priority for the coming weeks and months.

The LDC deliverables

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  The EU has participated in the Director General's consultations since Easter with an open mind, and with a strong determination to play a constructive role. Members' willingness to work towards a package of deliverables for December seems to be waning; from our point of view, this is highly regrettable.
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  The global economy has definitely gone through some major changes since the launch of this Round - but the LDCs' needs remain as pressing as ever, and WTO members have a collective responsibility to deliver on them.
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  The nucleus of any package for December was clearly always going to be a set of issues of direct interest for the Least Developed Countries. There was and still is a very large agreement in the membership about this. Within this nucleus, apart from cotton domestic support which is arguably more complex in terms of depth of reform, other issues - Rules of Origin, LDC services waiver and of course, primarily, Duty-Free-Quota-Free (DFQF) - ought to be doable without payment for anyone, as long as all main players make a contribution.
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  Of the various trade policy initiatives that are available to them, the one with which WTO members can make a real difference to the benefit of LDCs is improved market access. There is ample evidence that this will deliver major benefits for LDCs, whereas the associated costs would be very limited. And it is strictly speaking the implementation of something that was already agreed in Hong Kong.
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  Building on our existing initiatives such as 'Everything But Arms' and reformed GSP rules of origin, we ourselves are prepared to consider further contributions to the benefit of these Members, again without expecting to be "paid" for this. This is also the case for export competition on LDC domestic markets.
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  Only as a second step should we be considering the feasibility of the "plus" components of the LDC plus package. Here, we believe that certain outcomes would be possible if the political willingness was there, based on the consultations held so far.
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  A crucial instrument to support LDCs' increased access to markets and, consequently, trade-driven growth and poverty reduction is the draft Trade Facilitation Agreement. It is a significant multiplier in terms of the value of any package for the LDCs, and for the membership as a whole. In fact, we would like to highlight that the improvements that a Trade Facilitation Agreement would mean for moving goods across borders represent a genuine win/win outcome for the WTO membership as a whole, with all parties gaining and contributing.
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  There have also been discussions on other possible components of a December package, and in some areas we have detected positive signs of engagement. In particular, it would seem that a step on fisheries subsidies and on environmental goods could be conceivable. This would be important, also because both of these components would constitute a step forward for the benefit of the environment.

Overall, Mr. Chairman, we can endorse your suggestions on the way forward: on non-Doha Development Agenda (DDA) issues, on post December Ministerial Conference DDA, and of course in parallel keep working on Ministerial Conference possible LDC focused deliverables that can respond to the aspirations of LDCs.

Some first ideas and principles concerning particularly the post-Ministerial Conference DDA:

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  The EU has made it very clear that for us any December package would in any case be just the first stage on the path towards agreements on all issues on the Doha negotiating agenda.
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  We therefore agree that the membership must also start structured reflections about our work programme beyond the end of this year.
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  In this exercise, attention needs to be directed at all negotiating topics, both on the regulatory and market access side, and the approach must be to build on what has been achieved.
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  It is also important to start from a proper examination of what is holding us back in the WTO. We should of course aim at a shared diagnosis as you suggested, Mr. Chairman, rather to gravitate too quickly on solutions based on simplistic not really shared diagnosis.
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  On the other hand, we should be mindful, in opening up this debate, in structuring it in such a way that it does not lead to a prolonged void in the negotiating agenda of the organisation, which could create new risks for the WTO system including feeding the temptation to seek solutions outside of the multilateral trading system rather than inside.
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  In our view it will be essential to intensify such a process as soon as possible after the summer recess. We welcome your process of consultations and we look forward to further suggestions as to how to proceed.
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  A word on the Non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations, which during this spring turned out to be the main stumbling block on the way towards concluding the full Doha single undertaking. Let me just recall that the EU remains convinced that instruments for solving the impasse exist, and that we must not let our focus turn away from this or the other market access aspects of the Round; this is what will at the end of the day deliver the greatest economic and developmental gains for WTO members.
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  Finally, Mr. Chairman, we would also like to see restraint on increases to applied tariffs and the use of border measures, in order to shore up support for open markets in this difficult phase of the multilateral negotiations.

Thank you.

Angelos Pangratis, EU Ambassador to the WTO