Videoconferentie van de ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken (Handel), 9 juni 2020

Voornaamste agendapunten

De ministers van Handel zullen tijdens de videoconferentie WTO-vraagstukken behandelen, evenals de gevolgen van de COVID-19-pandemie voor het handelsbeleid.

• EU-handelsbeleid

Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for trade policy

Trade ministers addressed the negative impact the pandemic has had on global trade, and the role of global supply chains in the recovery.

COVID-19 has led to a sharp increase in protectionist measures and disruption to vital supply chains. But protectionism is by no means a solution. Cooperation, multilateralism and free and fair trade only can help us out of the crisis. Gordan Grlić Radman, Minister for foreign and European affairs of Croatia

COVID-19 has revealed some weaknesses in global trade and is likely to accelerate certain trends that were already present before the crisis. In this context, the Commission is expected to make a review of the EU's trade policy by the end of the year in order to ensure trade policy contributes to the post-COVID-19 recovery.

Ministers stressed the need to diversify and solidify the EU's supply chains and called for the deepening of the EU's network of trade agreements with key global partners. Many delegations also stressed the essential role sustainable development should play in the EU's future trade policy.

• COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and the EU's response