EU REMAINS
THE LARGEST MARKET FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Trade has
decreased sharply in recent months and the outlook for 2009 is the
worst for 50 years with the WTO forecasting a 9% reduction of world
trade, exacerbated by a steep decline of worldwide demand and most
commodity prices. In this context, free trade is more important
than ever, notably to offset the negative impact of the crisis on the
world's poorest economies. The conclusions reached at the G20
Summit will contribute to boost world trade, inter alia by ensuring
$250 billion for trade finance. In addition, the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development has just approved an increase
of its
trade facilitation programme from €800 million to €1.5 billion.
In the spirit of defending free trade against protectionism, the EU
continued to keep its doors open for trade with developing countries
through its preferential trade regimes. This market openness is
reflected in the Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP countries in
which the EU offers a 100% duty and quota free access (With the only
exception being sugar and rice, which will be liberalised over a short
period of time). It is also reflected in the Generalised System
of Preferences (GSP) that offers 176 developing countries preferential
treatment, including GSP+ and the "Everything but Arms" (EBA)
arrangements. The new GSP+ Regulation for the period of 2009-2011 has just entered into force in January of this year and was
granted to three new beneficiaries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Paraguay. This means that there are now a total of 16 countries
benefiting from GSP+.
This market openness has made the EU the largest world importer of
goods from developing countries. In 2007, the EU's importants from developing
countries were slightly over €700
billion. In the same year, the share of imports from Least
Developed Countries (LDCs) that entered the EU market amounted to
43.8%, compared to 18.2% for the US and 2.5% for Japan. With
regards to the share of agricultural importants from LDCs, the EU
imported 35.3% compared to only 4.7% by the US. The concrete
initiatives taken at the G20 Summit and the EU's continued trade openness
towards developing countries will compliment each
other in the endeavour to boost their exports and
help them get over the current crisis.
