WTO MC12: European Union Committed To Open And Rules-Based Multilateral Trading System – Council

The European council in a press release says Sunday, states the European Union is committed to an open and rules-based multilateral trading system, with a modernised WTO at its core.

This is the Council’s conclusions at the start of the 12th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference which started June 12.

The statement adds, The EU supports an ambitious and realistic package for the 12th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC12), and expects all WTO members to make a constructive contribution, according to their needs and capacities.

The Council recalls its previous joint statements regarding the war of aggression by the Russian Federation stating that ‘’These war crimes must stop immediately. Those responsible, and their accomplices, will be held to account in accordance with international law. Russia must immediately stop its military aggression in the territory of Ukraine, immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine, and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence within its internationally recognised borders’’.

The Council also recalls the priority it places on WTO reform and the intention of the EU to play a leading role in this regard. It underlines the importance of reforming the WTO in its core functions so that it can continue to deliver effectively on its objectives and tackle the challenges of the 21st Century, including by ensuring a level-playing field.

The Council underlines in this regard the importance of anchoring climate and sustainability on the WTO agenda as well as more firmly establishing competitive neutrality within the WTO. The Council highlights, as a priority, the need for a meaningful reform in order to restore a fully functioning WTO dispute settlement system with its core features kept intact, the need to reform the WTO’s monitoring and deliberating function, as well as the WTO’s role as a negotiating forum to develop new and updated rules. The Council supports the launch of a comprehensive review through a structured process under the auspices of the General Council, of the operation of the WTO with the view to making the necessary reforms to improve its functions by the next Ministerial Conference. Regarding the dispute settlement system and the Appellate Body, the EU underlines the importance of conducting discussions with the view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by MC13.

It added, The exacerbating food security challenges resulting from the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine are critical. The Council will support efforts at MC12 to address the food security crisis. The Council supports balanced outcomes in the area of agriculture, notably improvements to transparency, including in relation to export restrictions, and multilateral decisions to exempt humanitarian purchases by the World Food Programme from export restrictions, and, more generally, to avoid export restrictions on agricultural products.

Finally, the Council supports the launch of work programmes, with key elements that would guide the future negotiations, in areas such as trade-distorting domestic support and a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security, among others.