TRADE: European Liberalisation Neglects Developing South

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Jul 15 2000 (IPS) - The European Union (EU) has opened its markets to imports, except in areas are fundamental for developing economies, such as agriculture and textiles, according to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel entrusted with assessing the trade policies of its member nations.

The Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) this week conducted its periodic evaluation of the EU’s compliance with the standards governing international commerce.

The final report of TRPB president Ifthekar Ahmed Chowdhury, of Bangladesh, included the recognition expressed by numerous developing countries that Europe had made progress in opening its markets to foreign products.

Among the positive aspects, they acknowledged the favourable global effects of the EU’s economic recovery and also the leadership role the trade bloc has assumed within the WTO.

The EU, along with the United States, Canada and Japan, is part of a group known as the Quad, which is tacitly responsible for orienting the issues the WTO takes on and promotes the continued liberalisation of world markets.

But the gap between its pro-liberalisation stance and its protectionist policies in some areas sparked numerous criticisms against the EU during the three-day WTO evaluation.

The debate demonstrated the contradiction existing between what the Europeans “preach and what they practice” when it comes to agricultural policy, said Carlos Pérez del Castillo, delegate from Uruguay, one of the many countries affected by Europe’s protectionist agricultural trade.

The report drafted by the WTO Secretariat that served as the basis for discussions indicated the EU had spent 50 billion dollars in 1999 – 45 percent of its entire budget – on agricultural subsidies.

All industrialised countries use government resources to prop up the agricultural sector, spending a total of 361 billion dollars last year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is comprised of these wealthy nations.

The critical voices coming from the developing South delegations also targeted the lack of access to the EU markets for some sectors, such as textile and clothing, which are subject to tariffs and quotas that are higher than the international average.

Chowdhury said several countries had expressed their displeasure with the EU’s slow pace in implementing the measures established under the Textiles and Clothing Agreement.

The delegation from India joined other countries in questioning the frequency with which the EU appeals free trade mechanisms, such as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures, obstructing access of goods exported from developing countries.

The Europeans agreed that in 1999 they had seen an increase appeals against such measures, but this “does not represent a change in policy,” affirmed Hervé Jouanjean, head of WTO Affairs for the European Commission, the EU’s executive body.

The United States launched its own criticisms against Europe for delays in implementing the WTO Dispute Settlement Body’s decisions against the EU in the cases of trade in bananas and hormone- treated beef.

In response, the EU stressed that the two sets of talks it currently has underway at the WTO – about the service and agricultural sectors – will not make any progress unless a new round of global talks is called.

The countries of the EU, like other industrialised nations, are interested in a new round of negotiations in order to introduce the issues of investment, competition and the environment into the debate.

As far as including the controversial “social clause” in the new round of talks – regulations that would make trade conditional on compliance with universal labour standards – the EU representative Jouanjean said only that he would propose discussion on the issue.