Towards a reformed World Trade Organisation

The Council examined the state of play in the WTO DDA negotiations, ahead of possible WTO Ministerial discussions in Geneva. The Council reconfirmed the importance of achieving a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced final outcome within and across all of the areas of the DDA, in agriculture and non-agricultural market access and also including services, rules, trade facilitation and geographical indications. It also reconfirmed its commitment to a successful result, meeting the main objectives of the EU and the needs and interests of developing countries, in particular LDCs.

To that end, the Council urged WTO partners to make meaningful contributions to the negotiations, commensurate with their level of development. For emerging economies, in industrial tariffs in particular, this requires granting additional market access. In this context, the Council expressed its support for the Commission in seeking the further improvements of the Chairs' negotiating texts needed to move the negotiations forward, alongside further progress on the Single Undertaking as a whole, including services and geographical indications.

The Council agreed that a special session of the Council, as well as meetings of the Article 133 Committee, would be convened in the margins of the possible WTO DDA ministerial negotiations in Geneva. The date will be determined by the Presidency in the light of developments.