WIREDGOV

The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council yesterday reached a political agreement on reinforcing the EU's Enforcement Regulation. As part of the agreement, the Commission committed to developing the EU's anti-coercion mechanism swiftly.

The changes agreed will empower the European Union to protect its trade interests despite the paralysis of the multilateral dispute settlement system in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Commission will also be able to act if similar problems arise in bilateral agreements.

The final agreement between the co-legislators also expands the scope of the regulation and of possible trade policy measures to services and certain trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR). This will further strengthen the Union's arsenal in enforcing its rights by allowing it to adopt countermeasures in a broader range of fields.

Commission Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, yesterday said:

"This agreement sends a strong political signal that the European Union will take action to defend and protect our companies, workers and consumers whenever our partners do not play by the rules. This is a key commitment of our European trade agenda, on which we are now delivering. The agreement expands the EU's ability to defend its interests when a trade dispute is blocked under the WTO or one of our bilateral trade agreements. In addition, it permits countermeasures not just on goods but also on services and certain aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Our overarching priority to tackle these issues remains a reformed and well-functioning multilateral rulebook with a two stage Dispute Settlement System at its core, but we cannot afford being defenceless in the meantime.”

Further to this political agreement, the European Parliament and the Council will formally adopt the amended regulation with a view to its entry into force as soon as possible.

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