European Union - Franck Riester’s participation in the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Trade) (via video conference, 2 March 2021)

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Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will take part today in the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Trade).

The discussions will focus on the communication published on February 18 by the European Commission entitled “An open, sustainable and assertive trade policy,” aimed at setting out the EU’s new trade policy for the next five years.

Drafted based on broad public consultation, this document identifies three goals that are in line with the priorities highlighted by France:

1. Supporting economic recovery, in line with the goals the EU has set itself, notably with respect to the digital and environmental transition of the EU’s economy;

2. Shaping multilateral rules in order to promote a more sustainable and fairer globalization.

3. Strengthening the EU’s capacity to defend its interests and to assert its rights, including, if necessary, in an independent manner.

The minister delegate will argue that the EU’s new trade policy should continue to promote an open, stable and rules-based trade environment, with the WTO at its center, and will stress the need for seamless coordination between the EU’s trade agenda and its environmental goals, in accordance with the ambitions set out in the Green Deal. He will also argue in favor of speeding up work on the EU’s strategic autonomy and the strengthening of its instruments to combat unfair trade practices.