Written answers

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Trade Agreements

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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153. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will outline all pending trade negotiations that Ireland is involved with, either directly, or indirectly through the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23084/13]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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As trade negotiations are a matter of EU competence, Ireland's involvement in trade negotiations is as an active contributor to overall EU policy. The overarching theme of the Irish Presidency is the contribution of trade to growth, jobs and economic recovery; consequently I attach great importance to promoting the EU's external trade agenda. Increasing trade is one of the few ways to bolster economic growth without the necessity of drawing on severely constrained public finances. The contribution of external demand to GDP is the EU's most important source of growth for the moment, as domestic demand components - both public and private - remain weak. In fact, the contribution of trade to GDP in 2012 (+0.9 percentage points) cut the depth of the recession in the EU by a factor of four, helping compensate for the downward pull of other economic variables. The contribution of external demand to economic growth is bound to increase in future, as 90% of global economic growth in the next 10-15 years is expected to be generated outside Europe, a third of it in China alone. Trade policy is therefore an essential component of the EU's growth compact. More trade is also essential to job creation: About 30 million jobs in the EU depend on sales to the rest of the world, an increase of 10 million since 1995. On average, each additional €1 billion of exports supports between 8,000 to 15,000 additional jobs across the EU.

Negotiations underway or planned could boost EU GDP by more than 2% or €250bn -equivalent to the size of the Austrian or Danish economy -- and support an increase of more than 2 million jobs related to trade across the EU.

The trade negotiations currently underway are set out below.

EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

President Obama endorsed the launch of free trade talks with the EU in his State of the Union address on 9 February. This followed on from the work of the EU-US High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth that concluded a comprehensive agreement addressing a broad range of bilateral trade and investment issues, including regulatory issues, and contributing to the development of global rules, would provide the most significant mutual benefit.

The EU Council is considering a negotiating mandate to give to the Commission to start the talks. The Irish Presidency has prioritised this process of seeking agreement from EU member states on the final mandate. The negotiating mandate was discussed in depth at the highly successful Informal Trade Ministers meeting that I hosted in Dublin on 17-18 April.

The EU-US mandate will be the subject of intensive discussion over the coming weeks and it remains the Presidency's strong intention to seek to agree a mandate at the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) on 14 June.

EU-Canada

Negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA) are almost concluded. Negotiators are currently meeting in order to progress the final stages of an agreement, however no date is set for a final Ministerial meeting to conclude the agreement.

EU-Japan

Negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and Japan were launched on 25 March. The first round of negotiations was held in Brussels from 15-19 April and was conducted in a positive atmosphere. The aim is for a comprehensive agreement in goods, services and investment eliminating tariffs, non-tariff barriers and covering other trade-related issues, such as public procurement, regulatory issues, competition, and sustainable development.

EU-Singapore

This agreement is the EU's second ambitious agreement with a key Asian trading partner, after the EU-Korea FTA, and the first with a member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Once fully implemented, the deal will open up markets on both sides in a number of sectors, including banking, insurance and other financial services industries. Although the substantive negotiations have now concluded, negotiations on Investment Protection provisions are continuing.

EU-ASEAN

Talks on trade agreements with other ASEAN countries (in addition to Singapore) are at various stages of maturity. Talks are underway with Vietnam and Malaysia with trade negotiations with Thailand likely to start in a matter of weeks.

EU-India

Negotiations with India, a key strategic partner for the EU, are continuing and may hopefully conclude in the coming months.

Eastern Neighbourhood Negotiations on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTA) are progressing well with Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. Negotiations with Ukraine have been concluded and the agreement is awaiting political endorsement on both sides.

Southern Neighbourhood Negotiations on a DCFTA started with Morocco in the week beginning 22 April 2013. Preparatory meetings have been arranged with Jordan and Tunisia.

Mercosur

Negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur are continuing on a technical level.

Gulf Cooperation Council

Negotiations are underway and have been for some considerable time.

World Trade Organisation

Preparations continue for the 9th Ministerial Conference (MC9) of the WTO in Indonesia in December. Discussions on a package of deliverables are centred on Trade Facilitation and trade development initiatives for Least Developed Countries.

Other Agreements

Negotiations on a new International Technology Agreement are also taking place at the WTO. This agreement will extend the range of electronic products that can be traded tariff free among signatories to the agreement. It is expected that talks will be substantially concluded by the end of 2013.

In addition, very early negotiations on an International Services Agreement have commenced among some of the world's largest exporters of services. Work on this agreement is at the early stage of development and a final conclusion is not expected until 2014 at the earliest.

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