Assessment of Trade Defence Policy decisions for 2014

Μελέτη 10-06-2015

This paper assesses two vital issues concerning the EU’s trade defence activities. The first aspect concerns a transparency issue and the second pertains to the practical application of the trade defence instruments. On the first aspect, the paper concludes that the Annual Report issued by the European Commission to the European Parliament on trade defence activities needs a fundamental revision in terms of structure, content and timing of its issuance. In its current format the Annual Report fails to serve the purpose for which it was conceived in the first place. As regards the practical application of the trade defence instruments, the paper demonstrates that certain recent changes in the European Commission’s practice are target-oriented. Moreover, apart from the fact that the legality of certain practices is not assured, some of the new practices could backfire against EU exporting producers if third countries, which tend to emulate the EU’s practice, were to adopt them.