EP - Preparation for the WTO Ministerial meeting

Commission statement on the preparation for the World Trade Organisation Ministerial (Cancun, 10/14 September 2003)

Debate : 02.07.2003

The European Commission will also make a statement on the forthcoming WTO Ministerial meeting to be held in Cancun, Mexico from 10-14 September 2003. Officially, this meeting will be the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference. The Ministerial Conference is the organization's highest-level decision-making body. It meets "at least once every two years", as required by the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation - the WTO's founding charter.

The key objectives for the Commission are to liberalize market access, update and improve World Trade Organisation rules, promote a development agenda and address issues of public concern. Notable actions undertaken by the EU to build support for the launch of the Doha Development Agenda include: the "Everything-but-arms" (EBA) initiative, adopted in March 2001, to expand market access for least-developed countries (LDCs); supporting the resolution of implementation-related concerns; and providing resources for enhanced levels of trade-related technical assistance, for which the EU and Member States are major donors. In addition, the EU continues to be an active participant in all the regular activities of the WTO and periodically notifies its trade policy developments to the WTO. The EU is among the leading users of the dispute settlement procedures to enforce the multilateral trade obligations of its trading partners, and is frequently involved as a respondent. Disputes with the United States continue to be the leading category.


For the latest on WTO round see:

http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/europa/index_en.php

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