European Commission Daily News – 28 March

Report on EU trade defence: effective protection against unfair trade

The EU shields 320,000 direct jobs across Europe from unfair foreign competition through its trade defence measures, according to a report out today. The main highlights of the report include a major overhaul of EU trade defence legislation, continued high EU trade defence activity, resolute action to safeguard EU steel producers and strong and continuous defence of EU exporters targeted in foreign investigations. Since November 2014, the Juncker Commission put in place 95 trade defence measures. Two-thirds of all the 135 measures in place concern imports from China. Commenting on the report, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said: «We are open traders, but we cannot afford to be naïve. Not all of our trade partners want to play by the same rules that we do – we must not be taken advantage of and must protect the EU, its companies and its workers against unfair trading practices. Our intense work in this field in the past few years bears fruit: we have now in place tools that are better-suited for today’s global economy and we will continue working to ensure our companies and workers are shielded from any unfair practices.” Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said: “Open economies need effective tools to enforce fair competition, especially at a time where some countries don’t want to play by the rules. This report shows that our trade defence team is working harder than ever to safeguard jobs and protect the EU from unfair trade practices around the world. Thanks to our recent reforms, we are able to act quicker and our tools are more suited to the current global economic challenges.” EU trade defence measures provide welcome relief to European companies. In some cases, the duties resulted in a decrease of unfairly priced imports of up to 99%. At the same time, the duties are set at a level that is sufficient to restore competitive conditions on the EU market, without overburdening EU consumer and industries that rely on imports. For more information see the full press release and a detailed supplement to the report. (For more information: Daniel Rosario – Tel.: +32 229 56185; Kinga Malinowska – Tel: +32 229 51383)

Circular Economy: Commission welcomes European Parliament adoption of new rules on single–use plastics to reduce marine litter

The European Commission welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament yesterday afternoon of the ambitious measures it had earlier proposed to tackle marine litter coming from the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on European beaches, as well as abandoned fishing gear and oxo-degradable plastics. The rules on Single-Use Plastics items and fishing gear, addressing the ten most found items on EU beaches place the EU at the forefront of the global fight against marine litter. They are part of the EU Plastics Strategy – the most comprehensive strategy in the world adopting a material-specific lifecycle approach with the vision and objectives to have all plastic packaging placed on the EU market as reusable or recyclable by 2030. The Single-Use Plastics Directive adopted by the European Parliament is an essential element of the Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan as it stimulates the production and use of sustainable alternatives that avoid marine litter. Following the vote, first Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: “Today we have taken an important step to reduce littering and plastic pollution in our oceans and seas. We got this, we can do this. Europe is setting new and ambitious standards, paving the way for the rest of the world.” Vice-President Jyrki Katainen added: “Once implemented, the new rules will not only prevent plastic pollution, but also make the European Union the world leader in a more sustainable plastic policy.” Commissioner Karmenu Vella concluded: “After the favourable vote by the Parliament today, our main task will be to ensure that these ambitious measures are quickly implemented in practice, which will be common work for public authorities, producers and consumers alike.” More information is available in the statement online. (For more information: Enrico Brivio – Tel.: + 32 229 56172; Daniela Stoycheva – Tel.: +32 229 53664)

Read the European Commission – Daily News in full here