WRITTEN QUESTION E-1408/00

by Willy De Clercq (ELDR) to the Commission

(5 May 2000)

Subject: Sustainability Impact Assessments

The Commission's initiative in conducting a Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) on the proposed new WTO round is extremely important and welcome.

Will SIAs become mandatory prior to the negotiation of all EU bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements in the future?

What mechanisms will be established to ensure that the results of this, and future SIAs are effectively incorporated into EU trade policy-making?

Will the Commission continue to devote resources to the further development of the SIA methodology, and will the Commission encourage EU Member States and other WTO members to conduct complementary work of their own, as well as to provide developing countries with technical assistance if they are interested in initiating similar assessments themselves?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(8 June 2000)

The Commission is already bound by the EC Treaty to integrate environmental concerns into all areas of Community policy and to promote sustainable development. There are various ways in which these obligations can be fulfilled, of which carrying out sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) is one, but there are no proposals to make such assessments mandatory. The Commission is committed to continuing the SIA of the proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, as well as to starting such work in relation to the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Zone.

The results of the SIAs of the proposed WTO negotiations will receive wide circulation within the Commission and will be discussed by the Commission's SIA contact group which monitors the progress of this project. They will also be published on the websites of both the Commission's contractor for this project and Directorate general Trade, allowing all interested parties to provide direct input. The results will be used to help decision-makers ensure that the outcome of the negotiations is consistent with the objective of sustainable development. Other assessment projects have yet to be fully developed, but the Commission is committed to the basic principle of transparency and is aware of the need to ensure a consistent approach.

The Commission has dedicated considerable financial and human resources to the WTO-related SIA, the next phase of which will include refinement of the assessment methodology. It will continue to provide resources as appropriate, and where possible. Given the highly complex nature of this relatively new area of work the Commission is, to a large extent, reliant upon the availability of suitable independent experts to carry out the assessments. The Commission supports the international exchange of information and experience on impact assessments, including the work currently being done in this field by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Organisation for economic cooperation and development. The Commission is also committed to the provision of technical assistance to developing countries in relation to the development of trade policy to ensure that they are fully integrated into, and derive maximum benefit from, the international trading system. It is for each WTO member including developing countries to decide for itself what tools it should make use of in the development of its trade policy, including whether, and how, it should carry out such impact assessments.