Briefing

Briefing: ‘Trade for All’ – Balancing environmental protection and trade promotion

February 11, 2016

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström released her five-year ‘Trade for All’ strategy in October 2015, which acknowledges growing public concern over the EU’s trade policies. We identify five areas that need revision in order to more equitably distribute the benefits and costs of the EU’s trade policy: global value chains; energy imports; sustainable development; investment protection; transparency.

We identify the following five areas that need revision in order to more equitably distribute the benefits and costs of the EU’s trade policy:

1) Global valuechains: the trade agenda must ensure transport within a sustainable global value chain.

2) Energy imports: trade in energy must promote global decarbonisation, support the Paris Climate Agreement, and help deliver on the EU’s 2030 energy objectives.

3) Sustainable development: the sustainable development chapters must have substantive effect, via a Clean Hands clause.

4) Investment protection: EU trade agreements must not include ISDS or ICS and should work to dismantle the global BITs.

5) Transparency: transparency in trade must result in the publication of negotiating mandates, all proposed negotiating texts and materials.

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