EU-WTO - WTO gives thumbs up to EU trade policy

The EU was praised at its seventh trade policy review for its instrumental role in the promotion of the WTO negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and the strengthening of the multilateral trading system. The WTO also commended the EU for the results of its agricultural and fishery reforms. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said that "Today the WTO gave an "A" grade to EU trade policy. This confirms that the international community perception of the EU trade policy is more positive now than ever before. This good result is also a clear acknowledgement of the instrumental role played by the EU in putting the DDA back on track."

The conclusions of the EU's WTO Trade Policy Review in detail:

• The report of the WTO recognises the EU's instrumental role in advancing the Doha Development Agenda, referring to the EU having "spearheaded initiatives in liberalisation of trade, strengthening of WTO rules, and sustainable development". The WTO Membership recalled that the leadership and vision of EU Commissioners Pascal Lamy (Trade) and Franz Fischler (Agriculture) were instrumental in reaching an agreement on the DDA framework at the end of July.
  
  
• The EU was also generally praised for its strong emphasis on sustainable development in its trade policy. A great number of developing countries and some developed countries underlined in particular the mutually supportive policies pursued by the EU at the multilateral as well as bilateral levels. References were made to the EU's system of unilateral trade preferences ("Generalised System of Preferences"), the EU's vast technical assistance to developing countries, as well as its efforts to build partnerships on a region-to-region basis, aiming at consolidating regional trade while also promoting inter-regional trade.
  
  
• The WTO strongly commended the EU for the far-reaching reforms of its common agricultural and fishery policies. A number of members of the WTO underlined the need for continued efforts to continue opening agricultural markets and welcomed the EU's role in carrying forward this process.
  
  
• Finally, WTO members warmly welcomed the last enlargement of the EU to ten new member states as of 1 May 2004. They underlined the benefits for third countries of extending the EU's open trade regime to the ten new countries which have resulted in overall lower customs duties and more open market for trade in services.

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