Informal Meeting of EU Trade Ministers in Berlin: These topics are on the agenda

Met dank overgenomen van Duits voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2020 (Duits Voorzitterschap) i, gepubliceerd op zaterdag 19 september 2020.

On 21 September, EU ministers responsible for trade will convene for an informal meeting in Berlin. The meeting within the framework of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU will be chaired by German Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier.

Among the participants will be the designated EU Commissioner for Trade and Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis i, and the EU Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton i.

On the agenda are current issues of European trade policy. These notably include:

  • - 
    A discussion on the European Commission’s Trade Policy Review for the re-orientation of European trade policy, not least in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Gabriel Felbermayr (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) will be speaking about the resilience of global value chains.
  • - 
    There will be a discussion about the situation in the European steel industry, during which the two Commissioners present, Valdis Dombrovskis and Thierry Breton, will give their respective views from a trade and industrial policy angle. The discussion will also be informed by input from the European steel industry.
  • - 
    There will be a discussion on how to strengthen the multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Here, the focus will be on the selection process for a WTO Director-General to take this position over from Director-General Roberto Azevedo.

Info

Economic Affairs Minister Altmaier's statement upon arrival to the informal meeting will be livestreamed on the eu2020.de homepage beginning at 8.30. His press conference following the meeting will also be livestreamed beginning at 15.00.