WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/TE/W/53 
4 July 2005 
 
 (05-2906) 
Committee on Trade and Environment 
Special Session Original:  English 
 
 
 
PUTTING MEA/WTO GOVERNANCE INTO PRACTICE:  THE EC’S EXPERIENCE 
 IN THE NEGOTIATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MEAS  
 
Submission by the European Communities  
 
Paragraph 31 (i)  
 
  The following communication, dated 4 July 2005,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Communities
. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In the context of the negotiations on paragraph 31 (i) the EC submitted a paper to the CTESS 
in March 2004 (TN/TE/W/39).  In this submission, we emphasized the importance of focussing on 
fundamental governance principles underlying th e WTO/MEA-relationship.  These principles 
essentially served to outline how different but equal bodies of international law should work together 
and interact in order to ensure mutual supportiveness. 
2. One essential principle in the EU submissi on was the need for close cooperation and 
increased information flows at both national level a nd international level in order to enhance the 
mutual supportiveness of international trade and envir onment policies.  This submission aims to focus 
more specifically on this principle and inter alia  provide some examples of how the EC is working to 
ensure national and regional coordination on WTO and MEA issues.  It also discusses some ideas for improved coordination at an international level. 
3. This paper also aims at contributing to the practical discussion that has begun in the CTE on 
sharing national experiences in the negotiation a nd implementation of MEAs.  The submission first 
presents the EC’s experience with regard to negotia tions of MEAs and then describes internal policy 
coordination as regards enacting legislative me asures implementing obligations stemming from 
MEAs.  This paper is without prejudice to the EC’s  view that scrutiny on how MEAs are implemented 
is clearly outside the mandate of paragraph 31 (i) of the DDA. 
II. THE EC’S EXPERIENCE IN POLICY CO-ORDINATION 
4. The EC has a long tradition of internal co -ordination on trade and environment issues.  
Firstly, the Treaty establishing the European Co mmunity (EC Treaty) and the case law of the 
European Court of Justice (ECJ) recognize that re strictions to the free movement of goods/services 
may be justified under certain conditions on the basis of environmental protection. TN/TE/W/53 
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 5. Secondly, the EC has always sought to integr ate environmental concerns into its internal 
market policy and to balance the free movement of goods/services and envi ronmental protection.  
Moreover, harmonization of environm ental requirements at EC level h as successfully contributed to 
the completion of the internal market.  For this  reason, in June 1999 the European Commission 
adopted a Communication on the single market and the environment.  This Communication sets out a 
strategy aimed at enabling the two policies to  further strengthen and support each other while 
simultaneously developing positiv e interaction between them. 
6. In the EC’s own experience, effective in ter-department co-operation is the necessary 
prerequisite for developing a pos itive relationship between the objective of creating a single market 
based on the free movement of goods/services and that  of protecting the environment.  The EC has 
developed internally a set of principles designed to  promote integrated and inclusive policy making.  
In its White Paper on European Governance
1, the European Commission identified a number of key 
principles ( openness, participation, account ability, effectiveness, and coherence ) which inter alia  
should guide and underpin the polic y making process in order to improve coherence between policy 
areas and to promote good governance.  This gene ral principle of sound internal cooperation and 
collegiate decision-making also applies to the negotiation and implementation of MEAs. 
III. NEGOTIATING MEAS IN PRACTICE 
7. The EC is a Party to many MEAs which are often multidisciplinary and of a complex nature;  
the range of issues addressed by MEAs is very  wide and includes biodiversity, climate change, 
management of chemicals and waste etc.  Several MEAs contain measures affecting trade and more specifically specific trade obligations (STOs).  Pr oper internal co-ordination between environment 
and trade officials when MEAs are negotiated and implemented is, therefore, essential.  Given that 
EU policy on MEAs is formulated together by the European Commission (hereafter the Commission) and the Council (the body in which the EU Member  States are represented), such coordination takes 
place both between departments within the Commission and between Ministries in EU Member States. 
8. Specific procedures to be followed between th e Commission and the Council vary depending 
on the issue at stake (e.g. negotiation of new agreem ent, amendment to main text, technical decisions 
having legal effects, amendments of annexes, etc.).  The EU position can either be agreed by a decision of the Council, following an initiative/proposal from the Commission or, on the basis of draft Council Conclusions prepared by the Presidency of the Council.  
A. POLICY
 COORDINATION  WITHIN  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMISSION 
9. Within the Commission, departments are refe rred to as Directorates General (DG).  The 
Directorate General for Environment (DG ENV) is th e leading department for MEAs.  In advance of 
each MEA meeting, DG ENV co-o rdinates the Commission position and requests the opinion of all 
the other DGs and services which may be concer ned.  This procedure is called Inter-Service 
Consultation.  In the case of MEAs containing trad e-related measures, DG Trade is systematically 
consulted.  If needed, interdepartmental meetings are also organized and, in some cases, standing 
inter-departmental groups are created.  The process of Inter-Service Consultation helps policymakers 
and officials become more aware of the complexitie s of each others’ areas of work.  In addition, the 
different perspectives on an issue which colleagues from various DGs can bring help ensure that all 
the potential costs, benefits, challenges and oppor tunities arising from a proposed policy position are 
taken into consideration.  Once a text has been subject to Inter-Service C onsultation, including draft 
recommendations to the Council authorizing the Commi ssion to negotiate, and has been agreed at 
working level, the Commissioner responsible for Environment then sends it to the College of 
                                                      
1 COM (2001) 428 final.  TN/TE/W/53 
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 Commissioners, the body where all 25 Commissioners sit.  The document must be agreed by the 
College of Commissioners.   
10. The Commission has drawn up an internal guide on “ How to run inter-service consultation 
procedure ”.  The guide, which is briefly described in Box 1, sets out the rules and recommends good 
practice for running inter-service consultation procedures. 
 Box 1.  Core principles of the guide on “ How to run inter-service consultation procedure ” 
 
• Time limits : minimum time limit of 10 working days;  any reduction of the time limit must be 
justified. 
 
• Selection of DGs for consultation :  the lead department is responsible for identifying which 
other DGs need to be consulted.  There are a number of services which are compulsorily 
consulted, such as the Commission’s Legal Serv ice, which must be consulted in all cases 
which may have legal implications, the Secret ariat-General - consulted on all initiatives of 
political importance and Directorate General Budget, which must be consulted when a proposal has an impact on the European Community’s budget. 
 
• Replies to Inter-Service consultation :  there are five types of possible replies:  
 
No observation  means that the DG consulted has no specific comments. 
Approved  expresses agreement.   
Approved subject to comment being taken into account  means that the DG consulted 
approves only on condition that the comments or amendments proposed are actually taken into 
account.   
Unfavourable opinion  means that the proposal is unacceptable in its current state.  
Suspended opinion  is intended to freeze the consultation process and allow for further 
exchange of comments among services.  
• Closing of the consultation :  once the consultation is closed, the lead department incorporates 
as faithfully as possible the comments.  In instances where different DGs have opposing 
positions, careful arbitration is required in or der to produce a position acceptable to all DGs. 
 
• Posting of the revised text after consultation:  the lead department must post the revised 
version of the proposal on its internal web site , if possible indicating the amendments that 
have been made. 
 11. The Commission has also developed a web application for sending and processing 
inter-service consultations within the Commission.  This application has significantly improved and 
simplified inter-service consultation processes within  the Commission:  it has made the process more 
transparent because all departments can view in real time the comments made by others. 
B. STAKEHOLDER
 CONSULTATION 
12. In addition to the Inter-Service Consultation, the Commission usually also holds external 
consultations to make sure that the views of all inte rested stakeholders are integrated into the process 
of developing positions. 
13. The Commission’s Communication on “ General principles and minimum standards for 
consultation of interested parties by the Commission ” sets out the general rules for stakeholder TN/TE/W/53 
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 involvement and consultation.  The Commission’s Communication on “ the collection and use of 
expertise by the Commission:  principles and guidelines” provides additional guidance on this issue. 
14. When preparing together with the Council th e EU position on the negotiation of MEAs, the 
Commission follows this general participatory appr oach based on wide stakeholder involvement and 
consultation.  Consultation of stakeholders essentia lly aims at understanding what stakeholders expect 
from the negotiations and soliciting their views on the issues covered.  Box 2 shows a recent example 
of stakeholder consultation that the Commission launche d as part of its work to define future climate 
change policy.  Although the Kyoto Protocol does not contain any mandatory trade measures or obligations as such, we have chosen this exam ple because it shows the Commission’s efforts to 
consult stakeholders in an area relevant to an MEA. 
Box 2.  Stakeholder consultation:  the future climate change policy 
 
 In September 2004, the Commission launched a web-based stakeholder consultation to seek 
the opinion of all interested parties on the EC's a pproach to the future international fight against 
climate change after 2012 when the current Kyoto Protocol’s targets end. 
 
 All interested parties were invited to ma ke substantive contributions by the end of 
October 2004 through the web-based forum “Action on Climate Change post 2012”.  The Commission 
also organised a Stakeholder Conference on 22 November 2004.   The consultation gave an opportunity for st akeholders (citizens, businesses, policy makers, 
NGOs, public authorities, scientists and others) to c ontribute to the debate on the future of global 
climate policy.  The Commission used the contributions  in the development of the EC’s future climate 
change policy and of the Commission’s contribution to  the EU position in the international debate on 
the future international climate change regime.  
 More precisely, the stakeholder consultation provided input to the Commission’s 
communication "Winning the Battle Against Clim ate Change" adopted in February 2005 and 
presented to the Spring Council 2005 which discussed fu ture global and EC climate change policy. 
 
C. DISCUSSION IN THE COUNCIL  
15. The work of the Council of Ministers is carri ed out at various subsidiary bodies such as 
Committees and working parties.  The EU position for MEA negotiations is normally discussed in either the Working Party on International Environm ental Issues (WPIEI) or at the horizontal Working 
Party on the Environment.  The Council’s trade co mmittee (the 133 Committee) is kept informed of 
relevant discussions going on at these two groups and,  where appropriate, is c onsulted with regard to 
trade aspects. 
16. Both environmental working parties are a ttended by representatives from the Environment 
Ministries of EU Member States, as well as from their Foreign Offices.  The Commission attends all working parties with officials from different depa rtments, according to the issue at hand, and 
co-operates with the Presidency of the Council in steering the debates.  The view expressed by the 
representative of national Environment Ministries is normally agreed in the national capitals of EU 
Member States with other relevant ministries.  In many ministries, the policy co-ordination is similar 
to the process described above for the Commissi on:  co-ordination with other ministries or 
governmental agencies, consultation of  civil society.  In addition to the formal structures in the 
Council, representatives of Member States also atte nd the periodic meetings of an ad hoc group of 
trade and environment experts.  This group, which is chaired by the Commission, does not prepare the 
work for Commission positions on specific MEAs but  it does discuss in detail the broader issues  TN/TE/W/53 
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 surrounding MEAs, as well as a range of other trade and environment subjects.  Representatives from 
any Member State's ministry may attend, although most are from ministries for the environment, trade and economic policy.    
17. In the case of MEAs containing trade measures and more specifically STOs, national 
Trade Ministries are normally consulted and involv ed in the Council discu ssion and may also attend 
the meetings.  It is important to note that by the time an issue is discussed in the Council there has 
been considerable co-ordination between ministri es in Member States and between Directorates 
General in the Commission, with the result that  the positions taken by representatives of both the 
Member States and the Commission each refl ect an informed consensus position.   
18. Upon approval of the draft Council Decision/C onclusions within the Working Party, the 
matter then goes up a level to be dealt with in  the Committee of Permanent Representatives from 
Member States (COREPER), composed of Ambassadors of the Member States.  COREPER prepares the activities of the Council at Ministerial level.  On the basis of the findings of the sectoral working 
groups MEA issues are dealt with by the Environm ent Council which meets four times a year.   
19. The final draft Council Decision/Conclusions are adopted in the Council.  The Presidency or 
the Commission then leads the MEA negotiations  with support from the Member States.  
D. THE
 ROLE  OF THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT 
20. The European Parliament is kept informed by the Commission throughout the process of 
preparations of the agreements and during the cond uct and conclusion of inte rnational negotiations.  
The information is provided either through relevant  parliamentary committees or at a plenary sitting 
in sufficient time for the Parliament to express its view and for the Commission to take Parliament’s 
view into account.  Before the MEA is concluded by the Council, the Parliament formally expresses 
its opinion.  In certain cases, the assent of the Europe an Parliament is required.  Upon the request of 
the President of the European Parliament, Members of the Parliament can participate as observers in 
delegations negotiating in ternational agreements. 
E. EXAMPLES  OF INTERNAL  CO-ORDINATION 
21. As a detailed example this section explains intern al practices in relation to Cartagena Protocol 
on Biosafety which contains a number of trade -related measures concerning the transboundary 
movements of living modified organisms (LMOs). 
22. In the case of the Biosafety Protocol, it was cl ear that internal co-ordination was essential to 
reconcile environmental concerns with the trading in terests of the EU.  DG ENV worked very closely 
with other DGs when preparing the negotiations.  DG Trade, DG Health and Consumer Protection, 
DG Research, DG Enterprise, the Secretariat Gene ral, the Legal Service, DG Agriculture, DG 
Development and the Joint Research Centre were all closely associated and consulted. 
23. The Commission also consulted regularly with NGOs and the biotechnology industry 
throughout the process and fed the outcome of these consultations into the development of the EU 
position within the Council. 
24. The EU preparations at technical level for the biosafety negotiations took place in the 
meetings of the Ad Hoc Group on Biosafety , a sub-group of the Environment Council Working 
Group.  In this framework, the Commission and the Me mber States worked very closely to refine the 
EC position.  A negotiating mandate for the Comm ission was adopted by the Council prior to CBD 
COP-2 in Jakarta and was revised several tim es during the negotiations of the protocol. TN/TE/W/53 
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 25. The Commission delegation in the negotiations of the Biosafety Protocol was headed by 
DG ENV and composed of officials coming also from other relevant DGs, such as DG Trade and the 
Legal Service.  The Presidency of the Council and the other Member States participated actively in 
the negotiations and were particularly  involved with some specific issues. 
26. It should be noted that this procedure was fo llowed when negotiating other MEAs such as, for 
instance, the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Inform ed Consent, the Montreal Protocol or the 
Basel Convention.  In all of them consultations with stakeholders, inter-departmental consultations 
and discussions in the Council of Ministers t ook place following the patterns described above.   
IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF MEAS IN THE EC 
27. International obligations arisi ng out of MEAs are implemented into the European Community 
legal order by regulatory means.  There is a long standing practice of public consultation when 
developing and adopting legislative proposals.   Existing practices were complemented and 
systematized through the “Better Regulation Pack age” adopted in 2002.  Consultation processes are 
open to all individuals, private and public organi sations and governments.  To simplify and ensure 
broad public participation in cons ultations, a “single access point” has been created on the web.  It 
also displays results of previous consultations. 
28. Opinions of stakeholders are taken into account  by the DG Environment in coordination with 
other services already before and during the drafting of  proposals in the field of environmental policy.  
Each legislative proposal is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out reasons for its 
adoption.   
29. Proposals adopted by the Commission are then submitted to the Council and the 
European Parliament for adoption, in most c ases, through the “co-decision procedure”.  This 
legislative procedure aims at a text approved by bo th the Council and the Parliament.  Representatives 
of the EU Member States in the Council and th e Members of the European Parliament can propose 
amendments to the draft.  The works on legi slative proposals inside EU Member States are 
coordinated between relevant national ministries.   
V. POLICY COORDINATION AT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 
30. Coordination of policy at national level is important not only to help ensure that the different 
policies of a country or a region are coherent with each other but so that policy positions taken by a 
country or region in different inte rnational fora on any given subject are also coherent.  Progress is 
difficult, for example, if a country or region tak es one position at the COP of an MEA and another in 
the WTO. 
31. In addition, the EC believes that institu tional coordination a nd cooperation between 
international bodies is as important as national polic y coordination.  In memb er-driven organizations, 
such cooperation depends on the recognition by memb ers of its importance and added value and their 
willingness to foster it.  Policy cooperation at inte rnational level should he lp to improve knowledge 
on the often complex issues at stake.  It should also help in preventing conflicts and contribute to 
improving the global governance system. 
32. To enhance policy coordination and coheren ce in the WTO/MEA field, continued and 
increased co-operation and information flows between the WTO and MEAs secretariats is important.  
Close cooperation between these secretariats could al so contribute to promoting synergies between 
trade and environment and ensure consistency as re gards the competences of the institutions to the 
benefit of all.  TN/TE/W/53 
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 33. Since the WTO Ministerial in Singapore, inform ation exchange in the WTO on issues within 
the trade and environment interface has been undertak en by the CTE.  The EC, however, believes that 
channels of communication and increased informa tion flows between the MEA secretariats and the 
WTO should be strengthened, for example, by in stitutionalizing exchange sessions and encouraging 
other WTO committees to convene similar events, as well as by granting observer status as 
appropriate.2   The WTO Secretariat and the secretariats of MEAs are key actors in relation to two 
important parts of international law:  greater mutual awareness of each other’s ambit of activity can only serve to help ensure the interface betwee n international trade rules and international 
environmental law is as smooth as possible.   
34. Effective policy coordination in the negotiati on and implementation phase should in theory 
imply that countries which are parties to both an MEA and to the WTO will strive to fulfil both sets of 
obligations in a consistent way.  However, if a problem arises, effective information exchange also 
has to be ensured in dispute settlement procedures.   
VI. CONCLUSIONS:  LESSONS LEARNED 
35. The EC has drawn on a number of lessons from it s long experience of in ternal co-ordination 
prior to and during MEA negotiations: 
 (1) Whereas it is clear that good governance is vital for sustainable development, it is 
equally clear that sustainable development cannot  be achieved by national action alone.  As a 
consequence, good governance requires policy coor dination both at nationa l and international 
levels.  Policy coordina tion is a prerequisite for preventing conflicts between policy areas as 
well as for ensuring that certain overarc hing objectives can be attained.   
 
 Sustainable development has been recognized by the international community as one such 
overarching objective both in the 1992 Rio Declaration and in the Preamble to the WTO Agreement.  As that same in ternational community works to further elaborate and develop 
international trade rules and international e nvironmental policy, it is obvious that policy 
makers from the relevant areas must cooperate a nd coordinate their efforts in order to produce 
results which contribute to the smooth developm ent of the two policy areas, as well as to the 
overarching objective of sustainable development. 
  (2) Effective national policy coordination requires a continuous policy dialogue and 
information exchange at all levels of th e policymaking chain and between all involved 
institutions, from the phase of policy formula tion to the negotiation and implementation of 
MEAs. 
  (3) Policy coordination is only effective if there is a common and shared policy objective 
among the actors involved.  If the concerned na tional institutions - ministries and agencies - 
have not agreed on an overarching policy objec tive, subsequent policy coordination in terms 
of related negotiations and impl ementation will have little or no effect.  Similarly, all actors 
involved must have a clear understanding of the principles which provide the reference 
framework for their joint efforts.  This is par ticularly relevant in the WTO/MEA area.  In its 
submission to the WTO (TN/TE/W/39) the EC recalled principles which form the “acquis” in the field of trade, environment and intern ational governance and accordingly which provide 
the basis for policy formulation on the WTO/MEA relationship including the negotiations 
under 31 (i).  
 
                                                     
 
2 See the EC submission on “The Relationship between WTO Rules and MEAS in the Context of the 
Global Governance  System”, TN/TE/W/39, 24 March 2004.  TN/TE/W/53 
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 36. In conclusion, to ensure mutual supporti veness between the WTO and MEAs, proper policy 
coordination, cooperation and inform ation exchange at national and in ternational levels is essential.  
There are broad benefits to be gained from polic y cooperation, not only in ensuring mutual legal 
consistency and thereby avoiding  potential problems but also in identifying synergies between 
international trade and environment policies so that the international community might move closer to 
achieving its proclaimed overarching obj ective of sustainable development. 
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