EXPERT ANALYSIS
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Removing barriers
Rupert Schlegelmilch, a European Commission FTA negotiator, describes the benefits to flow from recent EU trade talks
I
t’s been a time of change for the EU’s foreign direct investment (FDI) framework, with a number of landmark free trade agreements (FTA) being agreed or in the pipeline. Rupert Schlegelmilch, a director in the European
Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade, speaks with IFLR on how FTAs can help the region’s return to growth, the role of financial services regulation in EU-US trade talks, and the today’s barriers to outbound investment into China.
In December 2009, FDI was brought under the EU’s exclusive jurisdiction. How has this improved the inbound FDI process and prospects for member states and the EU as a whole? First of all, I have to point out that we are at a very early stage in incorporating investment protection into our FTAs. It is certainly too early to be able to quan- tify the positive impact of our new competence.
But I think it is clear that by creating a level playing field – one set of rules
for the entire EU, instead of many bilateral agreements with different rules – we improve the existing investment framework and thus the prospects to in- crease investment flows.
What are the European Commission’s top priorities when negotiating FTAs? Our priorities are very straightforward: we negotiate FTAs to improve and fa- cilitate the way European companies can do business with the rest of the world. By opening markets with our key partners, we increase the opportunities for Europeans to trade, thereby contributing to our overall objective of contribut- ing to the creation of economic growth and jobs.
You’ve described the recently completed EU-Singapore FTA as one of the most comprehensive to-date. What makes this FTA stand out, and could it act as a template for future agreements? Well, it is very comprehensive and advanced in nature. We have generally of- fered each other the best treatment made available to other comparable trading partners, but we have then gone beyond that in a number of areas of specific interest to both sides.
For example, we have offered each other much better commitments on serv-
ices and government procurement than under respective World Trade Organ- isation (WTO) commitments. and Singapore has offered European service suppliers better treatment than that offered to other countries bilaterally in many sectors. We have also aimed to create new opportunities for FDIs and ensure their high level of protection. At the same time we removed and pre- vented many technical barriers to trade, such as duplicative testing requirements and agreed on a high level of protection and enforcement of intellectual prop- erty rights (IPR). And we have included a chapter dedicated to stimulating green growth and sustainable development.
These are the necessary elements for the kind of deep and comprehensive
FTAs we are interested in. This does not mean we will simply copy-and-paste what we have done with Singapore to other negotiations; the content, ambition and outcome always depend on our partners. But, alongside our agreement with Korea, the EU-Singapore FTA has the potential to serve as a reference point for what we would like to achieve in other FTAs.
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IFLR REPORT | FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT 2014
WWW.IFLR.COM
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