Mandelson pitches for bilateral agreements that boost free trade
16 Oct '06
3 min read
Speaking at the London School of Economics this evening EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has made the case for the EU pursuing targeted bilateral trade agreements as part of a wider EU strategy centred on the WTO and the multilateral trading system.
Mandelson argued that the key policy choice is not between bilateral agreements and the multilateral system, but between ambitious bilateral agreements that drive forward global liberalisation and bilateral deals that avoid sensitive issues or "open some borders only to close others".
Mandelson argued that carefully constructed and ambitious bilateral agreements with carefully chosen partners can create new trade, improve the competitiveness of EU companies in key enlarging markets and prepare the ground for future liberalisation by going further in areas such as investment, competition and public procurement where WTO rules do not yet fully apply. The European Commission is currently proposing to launch new bilateral trade agreements with ASEAN, Korea, Russia and India.
Mandelson said: "It is true that too many bilateral agreements skip the sensitive issues and therefore don't create new trade. But this is a political choice. We've argued strongly at the WTO that rules on FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) should require real depth, liberalising substantially all trade."
"That is why the chief criteria for our new bilaterals is economic. We've made it clear to our partners that the EU is only interested in deep Free Trade Agreements across the full range of sectors. Not just goods, but services, non-tariff barriers and rules on issues such as investment, competition and public procurement".
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