EP wants new trade strategy for Europe under EU2020

The press service of the European Parliament tells us the Result of votes Tuesday 27 September 2011.

We see that the INTA report, prepared by Daniel Caspary (EPP, DE), on a New trade policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy (A7-0255/2011; procedure INI/2010/2152) was adopted by 526 votes in favour to 108 against with 9 abstentions.


EP accuses Commission of lack of trade strategy

The report from the EP Committee on International Trade INTA was highly critical of the communication COM(2010) 612:

Trade, Growth and World Affairs: Trade Policy as a core component of the EU's 2020 strategy; Brussels, 9.11.2010 COM(2010) 612 final

In the proposed resolution INTA did not mince its words, when it accused the Commission of failing to come up with an EU strategy for international trade and when it asked for a new strategy by next summer:

Parliament expected to receive a real future trade strategy, which took account of mid- and long-term developments and did not build on the false assumption of a continuing status quo on the world trade stage

1.  Welcomes in general the triple objectives of Europe 2020 of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth and the Commission’s Communication ‘Trade, Growth and World Affairs’, and urges on the Commission to present a forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment taking into account the new challenges of the EU;

2.  Regrets that many targeted goals of the Global Europe Strategy have not been reached as yet and would have expected a more critical analysis of the Strategy with a view to a better understanding of certain failures to achieve;

3.  Insists that the Union needs a coherent long-term trade strategy in order to take account of the challenges ahead and in particular of the major emerging countries; insists that such a strategy should be based on a thorough analysis of the current trends in world trade, the Union’s internal and external development as well as the diversity of European enterprises, their know-how and their technological advances; regrets that the Communication fails to deliver a profound forecast of how the ‘world of trade’ could look in a policy-planning perspective of 15 to 20 years; considers that this review should establish the Commission’s ambitions for its bilateral trading relationships over this period including a distinct geographical strategy, for example through the creation of new agreements or targets for eliminating tariffs and non-tariff barriers with its major trading partners;

4.  Asks the Commission to deliver such a forecast as a basis and to present a revised mid-and long-term trade strategy by summer 2012, as the Communication on Trade Growth and World affairs fails to do so;

Ralf Grahn