The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez, yesterday called on the European Commission to speed up the relaunch of transatlantic relations with the United States and to make progress in the ratification of pending bilateral agreements with Mercosur, Chile and Mexico.
Xiana Méndez took part yesterday in the virtual meeting of European Union trade ministers, the main item on the agenda of which was the EU Trade Policy Review proposed on 18 February by the Commission, known as “Open Strategic Autonomy”.
During the virtual meeting, as reported by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in a press release, Méndez stressed the importance of strengthening the multilateral sphere and the diversification of markets and the resilience of international supply chains. For this reason, and in order to promote these objectives, the Secretary of State asked the Commission to make progress with the bilateral agreements already in place and warned, in this regard, that for Spain it is “fundamental” to conclude the agreements pending ratification with Mercosur, Chile and Mexico, as well as to reinforce their implementation and compliance through the figure of the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer.
Xiana Méndez also called on the Commission to speed up the relaunch of transatlantic relations with “a constructive agenda and converging interests”, because if anything “has been made clear by this pandemic, it is the importance of international cooperation”. The fight against a global epidemic can only be tackled through open and fluid markets, and for this reason, one of the EU’s objectives should be to create “a constructive agenda” and to strengthen cooperation with its main trading partners, including the United States, she said.
The Secretary of State also stressed the importance of maintaining a balance between the “open economy” and the need to “protect” European companies and citizens from unfair practices or a lack of a level playing field, and stressed the need to strengthen the role of SMEs in the trade agenda in order to facilitate their internationalisation and contribute to economic recovery.
During yesterday’s meeting, the European ministers “welcomed” the Commission’s proposal to “to support the recovery and fundamental transformation of the EU economy in line with the green and digital objectives, to shape global rules for a more sustainable and fairer globalisation, and to increase the EU’s capacity to pursue its interests and enforce its rights, including autonomously where needed “.
These objectives of the Commission, according to trade ministers, imply, building on “lessons learned from the pandemic”, addressing “the balance between openness, sustainability and assertiveness of EU trade policy”. They will also call for “stronger engagement with the EU’s global partners, starting with the United States”, the need to “rebalance the economic relationship with China”, the strengthening of “the EU’s partnerships with neighbourhood and enlargement countries and Africa” and the consolidation of “the EU’s partnerships with key growth regions in Asia-Pacific and Latin America”.
