Civil society and its contribution to the trade debate is a crucial part of the whole scheme of things in the EU’s formulation of trade policy on a global level, EU Commission Head of Representation Joanna Drake said yesterday.

Speaking during a seminar organised by the Commission’s DG Trade Unit, she said that although the European Union accounts for just seven per cent of the world’s population, the bloc accounts for 20 per cent of the world’s global trade making it the largest trading bloc.

Ms Drake explained that the European Community Treaty established that trade policy is of ‘community competence’ which means that there is a single policy for the whole EU. This also means that all 25 member states speak with one voice on trade issues.

She said that smaller member states, like Malta, who might otherwise find it difficult to get a fair deal when dealing with countries much bigger than themselves, can benefit from their interests being defended by the entire EU.

Ms Drake said that it is important for civil society groups from new member states to make their voice heard although there are only 30 coming from these countries out of 600 organisations affiliated with DG Trade. She said that although the deadline for the Doha Development Agenda has been missed, this was an important moment for bilateral trade relations.

“The EU is the second most important trading partner for Latin America and the first for Mercosur and Chile while it has also become China’s top trading partner after the United States. Although trade may be far from our daily lives, it actually involves us all so the contribution of civil society to the trade debate is crucial.”

Ms Drake said that the EU has taken a firm commitment towards making trade support sustainable development and thus carries out Trade Sustainability Impact Assessments regularly. She said that the objective of DG Trade is to continue to maintain and deepen its working relationship with all interested stakeholders in the trade policy field.