WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/76
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2073)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Commission oftheEuropean Communities
Statement Circulated bySirLeon Brittan Q.C.,
Vice-President oftheEuropean Commission
Introduction
Thisweek wehave rightly celebrated themany achievements oftheGATT overthelast
50years. Wehaverecognized itstremendous contribution togrowth, prosperity, employment and
economic stability. Andwehaverecognized that,intoday'sglobal economy, further expansion of
trade within therule-based system oftheWTO isthesurest waytomaintain andspread that
prosperity inthelongterm.
Asweapproach thenextcentury, themultilateral trading system faces newchallenges. The
traditional market access gains ofthepastmaybeundermined unless weareablefurther toliberalize
andestablish rules inthefields ofservices, competition andinvestment. Challenges -andhard
choices -faceusasweprepare tofurther reform agriculture. Andthere isabroader challenge still,
aswetrytodemonstrate toasociety sometimes fearful ofeconomic change, andtothose sections of
society whomaybeunconvinced ofthebenefits ofthemultilateral system, thatitisthrough that
system, andnotoutside it,thatwecanbestmanage thischange.
Atthishistoric moment forthemultilateral trading system, theEuropean Community takes
theopportunity tostateitsviews onthekeyquestions which must beaddressed atthis,theSecond
Ministerial Conference, iftheWTO istomeetthechallenges ofthefuture asconfidently asithasmet
those ofthepast.
Recent achievements
Thetrack record oftheWTO since theconclusion oftheUruguay Round hasbeenextremely
positive forusall,bringing better business certainty andbetter market access. Tariff andnon-tariff
barriers havebeenslashed, ourintellectual property hasstarted tobenefit fromglobal protection, and
ourservices industries areopening upnewmarkets. Cheaper imports have alsobenefited our
consumers andindustries reliant onthose imports. Growth isbeing increasingly trade driven, and
trade accounts foranincreasing proportion ofeconomic activity, employment andgrowth. Thepast
yearhasalsobeensuccessful. TheInformation Technology Agreement, theagreements reached on
basic telecommunications andfinancial services, andthegrowing success oftheWTO 'sdispute
settlement system todiffuse orresolve trade differences: allmajor successes. Itisright thatwe
acknowledge those successes.WT/MIN(98)/ST/76
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Overall aimsfortheMinisterial Meeting
Inbroad terms theEuropean Community consider thattheMinisterial Meeting should provide
thefollowing keymessages. First, areaffirmation byalloftheprimacy ofthemultilateral system
fortrade issues. Secondly, reaffirmation oftheimportance thatallMembers attach tofullandtimely
implementation oftheir WTO commitments. Third, theneed tomake theWTO atruly global
organization boththrough expanding itsmembership andthrough assisting thefullintegration of
least-developed countries intotheglobal trading system. Andfourth, recognition ofthebenefits -to
sustainable development, growth andjobs-offurther andbroad based liberalization within theWTO
framework, including innewareas.
Implementation ofTheUruguay Round Agreements
TheSecond Ministerial Meeting oftheWTO offers anopportunity totakestock of
implementation ofourUruguay Round commitments. Asthereports from different WTO bodies
show, implementation hasproceeded inmost cases smoothly andontheagreed time-frames. The
European Community hasassiduously implemented allitscommitments onschedule, andnaturally
expects thesame from itstrading partners.
Wearenonetheless aware ofconcerns from some developing countries, notably certain
least-developed countries, overtheircapacity toimplement particular Uruguay Round Agreements
within theagreed deadlines. TheCommunity isreceptive tolegitimate concerns ofthisnature and
isprepared toprovide further technical assistance andsupport toensure fullandtimely
implementation ofcommitments bythecountries concerned.
Global membership
TheEuropean Community believes itessential thatalltrading countries become Members of
theWTO. Itlooks forward tomaking progress ontheaccession ofcandidate countries, large and
small, onthebasis ofmutually acceptable andviable market access commitments andfulladherence
toWTO rules. Itaffirms thatnoacceding country should berequired totakecommitments which
gobeyond those ofMembers.
Thelimited participation ofsome least-developed countries intheinternational economy
remains ofgreat concern. Following the1997 High Level Meeting onLDCs theCommunity as
promised extended duty-free market access toproducts originating inthesecountries. Itcallsonother
WTO partners tomake comparable commitments towards LDCs attheMinisterial Meeting.
Current difficulties intheinternational economy
Therecent financial difficulties inAsiahaveputpressures ontheinternational trading system
which allWTO Members have felt. TheEuropean Community believes thatwith continued
regulatory reform, market openness andstrong mutual support, stability intheregion willberestored.
Tothisendwebelieve itmustbeintheinterest ofallWTO Members tocommit themselves tokeep
markets open, tocontinue witheconomic reform, andtopursue further multilateral liberalization,
building oncurrent market access levels, asthebestmeans toovercome anyprotectionist pressures.
TheEuropean Community alsocallsforstrengthened cooperation between theIMF, theWorld Bank
andtheWTO asanecessary element ofthissupport.WT/MIN(98)/ST/76
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TheWTO andcivilsociety
Amajor challenge forallWTO Members istostrengthen public understanding of,and
confidence inthemultilateral system. Some sectors ofoursocieties areconcerned about theimpact
ofglobalization ontheirlivelihoods anduncertain ofthebenefits provided byatrading system based
oninternational rules. Wemustintroduce measures toimprove transparency oftheworkings ofthe
WTO, andgreater engagement withrepresentatives ofthecivilsociety. Indoing sowemust be
prepared todemonstrate toallinterested groups theeconomic andsocial benefits thatresult from an
expansion oftrade, aswellasthestability thattherule-based system brings.
Thefuture
TheWTO must lookforward. Economic growth andwell-being canonlybesustained by
continued reform andcontinued liberalization, because theworld economy ischanging rapidly and
themultilateral system hascontinually tokeep upwiththose changes. Traditional concepts and
patterns oftrade arenow inextricably linked with international patterns ofinvestment, with
communications technology, withtheexplosive growth oftrade inservices, andwithmajor issues
involving competition policy, themanagement oftheenvironment, andsustainable development. All
these issues demand aresponse. Framing thatresponse isthekeychallenge oftheWTO intheyears
tocome.
TheCommunity isconvinced thatthese challenges canbemetonlyifweembark onanew,
comprehensive round oftrade negotiations: aMillennium Round. TheCommunity hastherefore
beenattheforefront ofthose whohavecalled forsuchatrade round tostartatthebeginning ofthe
nextcentury.
Weneedacomprehensive trade round essentially fortworeasons. First, tomaintain our
sovereign control inthefaceofrapid andfar-reaching economic change. Only byembracing this
change canweremain themasters ofit.Simply tostaystill,weneedtosetafar-reaching agenda
forfurther liberalization oftrade andinvestment. Ifwedonot,theninview ofthepressures the
international economy isnowunder, weriskslipping backwards. Astherecent difficulties inAsia
have shown, more liberalization, notlessisneeded. Aliberalization underpinned however by
multilateral rules, bringing transparency, fairness andpredictability.
Thesecond reason foracomprehensive round istoensure balance. TheWTO 'sbuilt-in
agenda foresees negotiations tofurther liberalize agriculture andservices starting attheendof1999.
Those negotiations aregoing tobemore meaningful, more successful andleadtoamore significant
outcome ifplaced within abroader negotiating framework. Because itisthrough acomprehensive
approach involving abroad range ofissues thatallparticipants canidentify gains andindoing so
offset anyopposition tofurther liberalization thatmayarise inspecific sectors. Inshort, onlya
comprehensive approach canallow ustobenefit ourwidely different constituencies. Andonlya
comprehensive approach will,Isubmit, allow ustointegrate toanacceptable degree theconcerns of
thebroader civilsociety.
Wehavetherefore argued infavour ofacomprehensive round starting in2000, covering the
built-in agenda, thenewissues identified atSingapore, together withmore traditional subjects such
asindustrial tariffs andother issues thatMembers maywish topursue. Wealsowish tomake
qualitative progress ontherelationship between trade andtheenvironment, andtopromote wider
understanding oftheeconomic andsocial benefits oftheWTO system. There isconsiderable
international support forabalanced andbroad based approach ofthistype.WT/MIN(98)/ST/76
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Timing
Acomprehensive trade round needs careful preparation, andmust beabletodeliver results
fast,given thegrowing speed ofeconomic development. Around encompassing thesubjects the
Community hasidentified canbeconcluded expeditiously andcertainly substantially faster thanthe
UR. Thisisfeasible because first, wehaveafairly finite number ofsubjects todealwith, most of
which have already been under discussion inWTO foralongtimeandarethusfamiliar. And
second, unlike theUruguay Round, wearenotonthisoccasion faced withsystemic questions about
thestructure oftheWTO.
Thefuture work programme
This week WTO Members have allrecognized theneed tobuild onpastsuccesses by
maintaining themomentum offurther trade liberalization. Today isofcourse notthemoment totake
decisions onthenewround. Butitshould takeanumber ofsteps thatwillenable ustotakesucha
decision when wemeetnextyear. Itmust prepare theground.
TheEuropean Community therefore calls onthisMinisterial Meeting tosetupa
wide-ranging, andall-inclusive work programme, under theauspices oftheGeneral Council, to
prepare thesubstantive agenda forthe1999 Ministerial. Thiswork programme should cover ina
balanced andequitable manner thesubjects ofthebuilt-in agenda, theissues arising from decisions
made attheSingapore Ministerial Meeting andother issues onwhich there isagreement toprepare
fornegotiations. Theprocess thatthisMinisterial could setintrainshould ofcourse respect existing
timetables, andallow work where necessary tointensify sothatalltheelements areinplace for
decision-making nextyear. Weshould giveclearguidance ontheOrganization andconduct ofthis
process, toensure thatthepreparatory work iscompleted inatimely andsmooth way. Butabove
all,weshould reflect through thisprocess ourcommitment tofurther comprehensive liberalization.
Conclusion
Indetermining thefuture work programme oftheWTO attheSecond Ministerial Meeting,
wehaveahistoric opportunity: anopportunity tosteerthemultilateral system inanewdirection,
andtoequip ittomeetthechallenges ofanewmillennium. TheEuropean Community callsupon
theMinisterial Conference toembrace these challenges inaboldandcomprehensive manner by
preparing foraglobal round oftrade negotiations attheMillennium. Difficult market access and
rule-making challenges arebestaddressed notsectorally butglobally, sothatallparticipants cantake
thewidest possible viewoftheireconomic andother interests. Seizing thisopportunity willbethe
firsttaskforallofusintheyears tocome. TheEuropean Community isready toprovide the
leadership inthisendeavour.
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