EU highlights trade led growth as central to a modern development agenda

Issued on January 30, 2012 at 10:34 AM

In its latest proposals on trade and development the EU identifies trade as one of the key drivers to support development, growth and helping lift people out of poverty.

In order to effectively reduce poverty across the world, the EU wants to focus on those countries most in need. This will require a better differentiation between developing countries and emerging economies.

Guiding principles of the new policy are:

• Better inclusion of Least Developed Countries into the multilateral trading system
• EU aid should support domestic reforms in developing countries to help them reap the benefits of increasingly integrated world markets
• The need to look beyond lowering tariffs on to meeting international technical, social and environmental standards, intellectual property rights, investment, services, competition policy and public procurement.

The Commission's communication "Trade, growth and development Tailoring trade and investment policy for those countries most in need" outlines concrete ways to enhance synergies between trade and development policies.

In setting out the EU's trade and development priorities for the next decade, the Communication calls:

• for more differentiation among developing countries to focus on the poorest;
• to intensify efforts to look beyond tariffs and reduce the remaining barriers to trade;
• to improve the way our trade and development instruments deliver and to enhance their complementarity;
• for our partners to undertake domestic reforms necessary to a sustained trade and investment-led growth;
• for other developed and emerging economies to match our initiatives to open markets to countries most in need; and
• for emerging economies to take up more global responsibilities for opening their markets to least developed countries.

Further information on this new communication can be found here and here.