WTO Trade Negotiations

Welcome by Robert Sturdy, EPP-ED spokesman, on WTO Trade Negotiations

"Although the negotiations of the Doha Round broke down in Geneva in July 2008, the EPP-ED believes that the WTO is the key forum for developing a system of constructive management of globalisation, and achieving the goals of sustainable development.

The EU has gone a long way in its pursuit of compromise in order to facilitate these negotiations, yet some WTO members have proved resistant to change. Too often members appear to rely on circumstance, short-term, individual concerns rather than looking at the long term global picture. Each country must recognise the obligations that membership brings. New impetus must be supported by real action and willingness to move forward."

The WTO provides a comprehensive framework for negotiations to promote fair and reciprocal opening of markets and reductions of trade distortions, while taking into account specific difficulties faced by Less Developed Countries. The EPP-ED is committed to engaging constructively and actively in a restart of the WTO Trade Negotiations in order to allow the potential gains of further trade liberalisation to spread.

EPP-ED POSITION

WTO: Parliaments have key role in making Doha Round transparent. Robert Sturdy MEP

EPP-ED Group is pushing for trade policy shift

EPP-ED resolution on the suspension of the WTO-Doha negotiations

EPP-ED Resolution on the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Hong Kong

The EPP-ED Position Paper on the WTO Doha Development Agenda

EP WORKING DOCUMENTS

	Final Adopted Report of Georgios Papastamkos on the results of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong
	"The role of parliaments in scrutinising and influencing trade policy - A comparative analysis", a study by Andreas Maurer's team at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Berlin)
	European Parliament Joint Resolution on the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Hong Kong
	Assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO agreement on 1 August 2004