Trade makes the EU stronger

The end of December is always a good moment to take a step back and look at what has been achieved over the year – or with the European Parliament elections coming up shortly, why not also at the entire term of this Commission. Also for us here at DG Trade.

???? Trade policy is a tool to deliver on the EU’s priorities – strengthening competitiveness, supporting the green and digital transitions, and reinforcing the EU’s geopolitical leadership.?The von der Leyen Commission has made extensive use of trade policy to make the EU stronger at a time of unprecedented geopolitical, economic and climate challenges - with the global trading system under immense pressure aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

???? This Commission has continued to ensure that the EU embraces the benefits of economic openness while addressing the risks that stem from interdependencies in an increasingly polarised world. Our trade with third countries has remained remarkably resilient, the cornerstone of which has been our wide FTA network that we continued to rely on – and add to; while developing new forms of engagement with our partners.

???? We have upped our game significantly when it comes to trade and sustainable development and we have now started implementing our new policy in our latest agreements. And we have also put in place new autonomous tools, such as the Anti-Coercion Instrument, and continued to assertively deploy our trade defence instruments. This balance has been at the heart of the EU’s drive toward open strategic autonomy.

The von der Leyen Commission has made extensive use of trade policy to make the EU stronger at a time of unprecedented geopolitical, economic and climate challenges

Here are some key facts we think are essential to understand the successes of our open, sustainable and assertive trade policy agenda.

This Commission:

???????? was successful at the last WTO ministerial MC12, which was able to reach a deal to discipline harmful fisheries subsidies and delivered on sustainability. We want the next ministerial MC13 to deepen the process of WTO reform to make it a more effective organization across its three core functions – negotiations, deliberation and dispute settlement.

?????????????????????????? bilaterally, concluded five trade negotiations including FTAs with New Zealand, Chile and Kenya, as well as our first ever sustainable investment deal with Angola and a data flows deal with Japan.

?????????????????????? deepened cooperation with partners through the Trade and Technology Council with the US and India, or the ongoing negotiations of digital trade agreements with Korea and Singapore.

?????? strengthened the implementation and enforcement agenda including via the setting up of a Single Entry Point under the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer to deal with complaints regarding market access barriers and breaches of Trade and Sustainable Development commitments in the EU's trade agreements – which have led to concrete results on the ground for our stakeholders.

And we have the data to back this up:

? The EU has one of the broadest networks of trade agreements in the world with 74 FTA partners. Our total external trade has increased by EUR 1.5 trillion EUR (from EUR 4,1 tr to EUR 5,6 tr). If energy trade is excluded to account for inflationary effects resulting from the decoupling from Russia, the total EU trade increase is EUR 1 trillion;

??We have unlocked 7 billion euros of EU exports through breaking down trade barriers;

??We have pushed EU trade under trade deals through the 2 trillion euro mark this year thanks to our implementation and market access work;

??We have protected 500.000 European jobs through our 170+ trade defence measures.

Trade with third countries has remained remarkably resilient, the cornerstone of which has been our wide FTA network that we continued to rely on – and add to; while developing new forms of engagement with our partners.

???? Ensuring that the EU attains its economic, sustainability and geopolitical interests will always remain the guiding light for the EU's trade department.

A good guiding light to go into 2024. Merry Christmas, and happy holidays.

Sabine Weyand, Director-General of DG Trade