Spirits Europe ‘welcomes’ new EU Trade Strategy
Industry body Spirits Europe says it “welcomes” the new “ambitious” EU Trade Strategy adopted by the European Commission, but calls for more staff to be trained in trade-related matters.
The European Commission has announced a new trade strategy which has been generally welcomed by Spirits Europe
Yesterday (14 October) the European Commission presented a new trade and investment strategy titled “Trade for All: Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy”.
The strategy aims to make EU trade policy “more responsible” in three key areas: effectiveness, “making sure trade actually delivers on its promise of new economic opportunities” with a focus on SMEs, digital trade and provisions for future trade agreements; transparency, “opening up negotiations to more public scrutiny”; and values, “safeguarding the European social and regulatory model at home”, including using trade agreements to promote sustainable development, human rights, ethical trade and anti-corruption measures.
The EU Trade Strategy is also a directly response to current debate surrounding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is being negotiated with the US.
EU trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, said: “Europeans know that trade can deliver jobs, growth and investment for consumers, workers and small companies. And they want more of those results. But they don’t want to compromise on core principles like human rights, sustainable development around the world or high quality regulation and public services at home. And they want to know more about the negotiations we carry out in their name.
“So trade policy must become more effective, more transparent and more in tune with our values. In short, it must become more responsible. That’s what we’re doing today.”
Spirits Europe says it welcomes the new plan, with director general Paul Skehan noting that European jobs and growth will depend on how competitive companies are compared to global rivals.
“As such, we welcome the new Trade Strategy. As a very export-oriented sector, we appreciate the level of ambition set by the Commission, in particular in engaging in bilateral negotiations with emerging high growth markets. In particular, many Asian and South East Asian markets offer huge potential growth for European spirits, but tariffs and non tariff barriers prevent us from competing effectively with local producers,” said Skehan.
“However, the strategy raises questions about the limited resources in the Commission devoted to trade. How many people does the Commission have to negotiate new agreements? How many to enforce them? How many people in EU Delegations around the world help our SMEs to make the most of those opened markets?
“We call on the Commission to reallocate and train more trade-related staff today to undertake future negotiations, to enforce the existing trading rules and to man EU Delegations abroad.”
Last week the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) said it welcomed the conclusion of initial negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement between Pacific Rim nations.
