The European Commission has announced that it is planning to hold a major trade conference later this year.
EU Trade Policy Day will take place in Brussels on 27 November 2018 under the banner title of In Defence of Fair and Open Trade – Rising to the Challenges, Tackling the Threats.
While new technologies promise to transform trade, the Commission notes, the post-1945 multilateral trading system is being questioned as never before: protectionism is raising its head and the benefits of open trade are increasingly being called into question.
Setting out the details of the proposed conference (available at trade.ec.europa.eu), the Commission highlights that already this year the EU has agreed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan and its trade deal with Canada (CETA) became operational.
It has also reached a political agreement with Mexico on a modernised trade agreement while continuing to make progress on its negotiations with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
In June, it also launched negotiations for trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand.
“Despite these and previous trade successes,” the Commission said, “the challenges continue to grow and the threats to the open-trading system to multiply. Policy makers and citizens ask themselves many questions, and seek answers and reassurances about the benefits of trade to all.”
Speakers at the conference will include EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Roberto Azevêdo.
