Mandelson to 'Lisbonise' EU trade policy

Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: “Europe’s policy needs to be clear: rejection of protectionism at home; activism in opening markets abroad…We cannot argue for openness from others while sheltering behind barriers of our own.” While he stressed that the new trade strategy would not signify a “European retreat from multilateralism”, he added that “Doha first has never meant Doha alone” and that seeking removal of barriers through bilateral negotiations is a top priority. 

The European Business Federation, UNICE, had pushed strongly for Mandelson to adopt a more “aggressive policy to restore European competitiveness and to allow EU companies to play their role in growth generation and job creation”. UNICE President Ernest-Antoine Seillière therefore welcomed the new strategy as “the right approach for growth and jobs in Europe.” 

UEAPME, the European SME employers’ organisation, on the other hand was more worried by the Communication, saying it “fails to mention, let alone address, the impact on European small and medium-sized businesses”. Luc Hendrickx, UEAPME director for enterprise policy stressed that “less than 10% of SMEs in Europe are active internationally [and] the effects of external trade are more often a challenge than an opportunity for small businesses”. 

Jim Murray, Director of the European consumers’ organisation BEUC and Xavier Durieu, EuroCommerce secretary-general, urged the Commission “to put consumers at the heart of trade policy”, saying that “reforming Europe’s defunct trade defence system is long overdue” and that “until proper weight is given to consumers’ welfare, it is unwise to start new antidumping investigations.”

A group of European sectoral federations, including CEFIC and Eurometaux disagree saying: “We do not agree on embarking on possible reforms that would, in fact, twist the operation of [trade defence] instruments towards objectives which they are not meant to pursue,” adding that TDI should primarily address injury caused to European producers from unfair trade practices and already “balance the needs of Community producers and consumers when assessing antidumping measures”.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warns the EU that it is "in danger of missing a historic opportunity to use its capacity to promote development and fair international exchange", adding: "This openly mercenary approach is at odds with the pro-multilateral and pro-sustainable development strategy defined in the 2004 Communication on 'The Social Dimension of Globalisation, extending the benefits to all'."

European activist groups and civil society organisations united in the Seattle to Brussels Network (S2B) expressed their fears that this “damaging new corporate-driven trade strategy” will “dictate domestic reform”, undermining the European social model, by breaking down the regulatory environment. “The EU’s insistence upon the ‘least trade-restrictive’ regulations has the potential to wipe out a wide range of policies, from food safety standards to job security,” said the network. “Good bye European model, here is naked globalisation for all,” it warned. 

Head of Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign Celine Charveriat said that the new strategy poses a serious threat to poor countries: “The EU plan to use free trade deals to force concessions on issues that developing countries have repeatedly rejected at the WTO will undermine multilateralism and increase poverty and inequality," she said, criticising the EU’s hypocrisy at calling on other countries to deal with non-tariff barriers when Europe continues to “pay vast sums in trade-distorting farm subsidies”. 

“The blueprint for the future of EU ‘competitiveness’ will expose industrial and services markets in developing countries to direct competition with the world’s largest multinationals, leading inevitably to bankruptcies and job losses as local firms struggle to survive,” added War on Want. Campaigns and Policy Director John Hilary said: “Mandelson has unashamedly put the interests of European business before the needs of the poorest people. The European Union should reject the Mandelson vision outright and build a trade policy based on justice and fairness, not aggressive self-interest.”