Farnesina –
Undersecretary Maria Tripodi participated, on the delegation of the Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Foreign Affairs and Trade Council held in Brussels, under the Spanish presidency, on 27 November.
The agenda included the topics of the preparation of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), the signing of the interim trade agreement with Chile, EU-US trade relations and finally the presentation of the EU Commission Report on the implementation of trade policy of the EU
With regard to the first theme, the Undersecretary indicated that for Italy, taking note of the continuing difficulties that hinder the relaunch of the WTO, it is necessary to further increase efforts to allow the strengthening of the multilateral trading system, both in terms of the reform of the ‘Organisation, than on that relating to the various open negotiation dossiers, from the WTO reform, to agriculture and the e-commerce tax moratorium.
Turning to the agreement with Chile, Tripodi expressed support for the efforts to reach signature in the coming weeks, also hoping for rapid approval by the EU Parliament. This is a very relevant agreement also in terms of access to raw materials for the ecological transition.
On the negotiations undertaken with the USA on the “Global Agreement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium” and on the “Agreement on Critical Minerals”, recognizing that these are proving to be more complex than expected, Italy reiterated its full support for the negotiating efforts of the Commission to try to bridge the gap in this matter with the USA.
Finally, regarding the presentation of the Commission Report on the application and implementation of EU trade policy, the Undersecretary, praising the solid and timely collaboration between the EU Commission and the Member States, expressed great appreciation towards the Report for the particular attention paid to the fundamental role played by SMEs in the context of the economic system of the Union, also reading a significant confirmation of the importance and need for free trade agreements for the EU and its Members, an importance of which our country is historically convinced and active supporter.
