Foreign Affairs Council (Trade), 12-15 June 2022

Main results

WTO ministerial conference

The Council of EU trade ministers met twice in the margins of the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation, which took place in Geneva from 12 to 17 June.

A first meeting took place at the beginning of the conference, where the Council adopted conclusions setting out the EU’s position for the Commission’s negotiations. Subsequently, the Commission regularly consulted member states on developments throughout the conference. A second meeting of EU trade ministers took place on Wednesday 15 June, providing an update on the negotiations at the start of their final phase.

At the end of the conference, the Council adopted conclusions where it welcomed the results achieved with regard to the prohibition of subsidies for illegal and unregulated fishing, trade in essential medical goods, including through the introduction of flexibilities on intellectual property for access to Covid vaccines, food security, the WTO reform and on the extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.

The Council also shared the positive assessment of the overall package achieved, which demonstrates the relevance of trade multilateralism to help address global challenges.