EU Pledges To Tackle Non-Tariff Barriers

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

29 December 2008

As part of the European Commission’s ongoing commitment to ‘keeping Europe’s markets open’ it has released details of how it plans to tackle non-tariff barriers on European exporters and improve key regulations between major countries and regions.

Vice President Günter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise and Industry and his colleague, the European Commissioner for Trade, Catherine Ashton, underlined: "In today's difficult economic climate it is more important than ever that we open up opportunities for our businesses to trade their way out of the downturn. This means tackling the costly barriers that block our exporters, in particular SMEs, ensuring that cooperation with our partners leads to real jobs and new opportunities. This is the most effective response to those arguing today to put up - rather than take down - barriers to trade".

The Commission says that it is taking a further step forward in giving a stronger external dimension to the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs with its new Communication building on the Global Europe strategy, launched at the end of 2006, which set out an ambitious agenda for opening the markets that matter most.

The Commission has identified a number of significant trade barriers in important existing and future markets for EU exporters. It also identifies the different tools available to ensure a coherent and targeted response, which include include:

  • Multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations, where much of the focus is on improving business opportunities, setting out clear rules and ensuring those rules are properly applied.
  • Bilateral high level contacts and international regulatory cooperation, such as the Transatlantic Economic Council with the US (TEC) and the High Level mechanism with China, which provide a useful, structured forum in which to raise problems and address unnecessary barriers caused by differences in regulatory practice.
  • Formal instruments to tackle specific barriers. Good examples are the WTO notification procedures for Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Agreement and for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) barriers. These arrangements provide transparency as well as a multilateral consultation and negotiation platform.
  • The Market Access Partnership which establishes a new, stronger link between the Commission, Member States and business, and pools resources to help tackle barriers on the ground. In addition, the European Commission has stepped up cooperation with third countries on market access barriers of common concern, particularly with the US and Japan.

Finally, says the Commission, regulatory cooperation offers further benefits in areas such as consumer protection, environmental standards, and reducing the cost of doing business. The European Commission will also seek to maximise the use of regulatory cooperation to anticipate trade challenges and ensure mutually beneficial cooperation at an early stage.

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