Trade MEPs travel to top WTO meeting this week

A delegation of MEPs will be in Abu Dhabi on 24-27 February to attend the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO and the organisation’s 13th Ministerial Conference.

A delegation of nine MEPs, led by the Chair of the International Trade Committee, Bernd Lange, will travel to Abu Dhabi for the session of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation (PCWTO), a meeting of deputies on 24-25 February, co-organised by the European Parliament. The event will take place ahead of the WTO 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), the meeting of the global trade organisation’s highest decision-making body, held between 26 and 29 February.

As part of the Parliamentary Conference, MEPs will discuss strengthening the multilateral trading system with senior WTO negotiators and officials. MEPs and other deputies are also expected to debate the relationship between trade and climate change, and digital trade.

Parliament laid out its expectations from the MC13 meeting in a resolution calling, among other things, for a comprehensive institutional reform package and swift agreement on the dispute settlement system. MEPs urged WTO members to conclude the second phase of the Fisheries Subsidies agreement, and find a “fair and permanent” solution for the e-commerce moratorium on customs duties on online deliveries, including music, e-books, films, and software.

The delegation will be led by Bernd Lange (S&D, DE) and will include Jörgen Warborn (EPP, SE), Daniel Caspary (EPP, DE), Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, BE), Javier Moreno Sánchez (S&D, ES), Samira Rafaela (Renew, NL), Marco Campomenosi (ID, IT), Emmanuel Maurel (The Left, FR), and Helmut Scholz (The Left, DE).

Quotes

“Our PCWTO is unique as it brings perspectives from parliamentarians all over the world together to discuss the outcomes we want the multilateral system to deliver. These discussions are not always easy, but very much needed to provide additional legitimacy to the multilateral trading system. As parliamentarians, we also hold an important role in supporting a new narrative on trade — one that is perceived as an enabler rather than a hindrance to achieving sustainability, security, and inclusiveness,” Bernd Lange (S&D, DE), INTA Chair and Co-chair of the Steering Group of PCWTO, said.

“The PCWTO is essential to ensure parliamentary contribution to the WTO, strengthening the democratic pillar of the international trade system. I hope that we can engage in constructive and mutually beneficial exchanges with our counterparts, enabling us to understand divergent perspectives and reach a common understanding on important elements that will support negotiations during MC13,” Jörgen Warborn (EPP, SE), Co-chair of the Steering Group of PCWTO, said.

Background

The WTO Ministerial Conference, which meets every two years, brings together all 164-members, and takes decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The European Parliament has been calling for the reform of the functioning of the WTO already since 2008.