The implementation of
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is one of the topics in discussion today
during the Foreign Affairs Council. EUROCHAMBRES and the European
Committee of the Regions urge that the recommendations on how to boost
uptake of FTA be taken into consideration.
Early this week, during the workshop: making EU Trade Agreements work to
the benefit of businesses and regions, EUROCHAMBRES and the European
Committee of the Regions released the results of a joint survey to identify
opportunities and obstacles faced in the implementation of EU FTAs.
According to the key findings of the survey, FTA remain an attractive force
for business and regions, but more practical information and better
guidance is needed on the implementation of EU’s FTA. Some core components
of FTAs, such as burdensome customs procedures or administrative burdens
should be simplified.
Based on the results of the survey, the following recommendation were
released:
1. Addressing the implementation gap through dedicated trade implementation
action plans that accompany mayor EU FTAs. This means improving the
dialogue and partnership between the business community, national and
regional policy makers to identify the most effective measures are needed
in each member state;
2. Improving members states’ support, which was found to lag behind
expectations of business and regional actors and create an overview of
actions taken to support SMEs when implementing FTAs;
3. Addressing the knowledge gap surrounding EU FTAs by providing practical
information how SMEs can make use of a given FTA in practice;
4. Reducing the complexity and lack of coherence of the EU’s rules of
origin, provide better access to information and means of participation in
public procurement abroad.
5. Providing an online rules of origin calculator for SMEs as first line of
support.
6. Creating a trade agreement implementation officer at EU representations
in EU member states to ensure that stakeholders have a direct point of
contact from the EU;
7. Inviting member states and regional authorities to seek stronger
cooperation with national and regional Chambers to capitalize on their
experience – given their role in helping businesses - especially SMEs - go
global;
8. Increasing FTA awareness to be paired with other policy solutions in
order to boost FTA uptake and define the competitiveness of regions and
SMEs. There are a number of national and European programmes to support
internationalisation, research and innovation, but it is also necessary to
create the right conditions for businesses.
More information:
Report of the survey on the implementation of FTA: http://bit.ly/SurveyTrade
The Press Release of the survey: http://bit.ly/PR_TradeSurvey