Sixth Enlargement Trade Ministerial Meeting

10 May 2003, Bucharest

Final Joint Declaration

On 10 May EU Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy met the ministers for trade of Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey on the occasion of their sixth annual conference on trade matters. Ten of these countries will accede to the EU on 1 May 2004. Discussions focused on multilateral trade matters, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations, and trade issues related to the EU’s enlargement.

Ministers had a fruitful discussion on the main developments of trade policy and the complementarity between regionalism and multilateralism. They underlined that while the EU remains committed to developing further its bilateral and interregional trade relations, the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda negotiations by the end of 2004 remains the trade policy priority for the EU and the acceding and candidate countries.

Ministers took stock of developments under the Doha Development Agenda to date and discussed preparations for the 5^th World Trade Organisation Ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico, from 10 to 14 September 2003. They agreed that the way to a successful outcome in Cancun and of the Round is for WTO members to remain committed, as agreed in Doha, to an agreement in the form of a Single Undertaking, with a result which reflects the interests of all members. Ministers reaffirmed the importance of working closely together during DDA negotiations.

In this context, Ministers exchanged views on individual Doha Development Agenda subjects for which they expected the Cancum Ministerial to take decisions, in particular concerning agriculture and market access for non-agricultural goods as core element for further multilateral liberalisation. Cancun will also have to decide on the modalities for negotiations on the key rule making issues of trade and competition, trade and investment, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement. Ministers further highlighted the importance of development in this negotiating Round and the need to achieve results on Special and Differential Treatment and implementation issues. Finally, Ministers confirmed that essential ingredients of a successful Cancun conference also included a decision by Cancun on geographical indications, points on the trade and environment agenda, and, if necessary, appropriate action in relation to the review of the dispute settlement mechanism. On other DDA issues, including services and rules, the Cancun meeting should take stock of progress.

Commissioner Lamy presented recent developments in the EU trade policy, underlining EU efforts to promote regional integration through the negotiations of bilateral trade agreements with various country groupings. He also reported on progress achieved so far in trade policy towards the Western Balkans.

Ministers agreed on the need to implement fully the commitments taken during the negotiations on accession to the EU, which notably implies having brought in line all international agreements with the obligations of membership by the time of accession.

Finally, Ministers sent a strong signal of their support for fruitful negotiations with the Russian Federation and Ukraine, thus paving the way for their rapid accession to the World Trade Organisation in full respect of the Organisation’s rules and on commercially viable terms. They also welcomed progress made in the accession negotiations with Cambodia, which should allow the country to finalise procedures for membership by the Cancun Ministerial.

Ministers concluded the meeting by welcoming the approaching accession of ten countries to the European Union and encouraging the progress made by Romania and Bulgaria on their road to accession, for which the European Council in Copenhagen set the objective by 2007. They also welcomed the decision of the European Council in Copenhagen to strengthen the accession strategy for Turkey in order to assist Turkey towards EU membership.