WTO, winners and losers

As the countdown to the September rendez-vous for WTO global trade negotiations in Cancun in Mexico begins, European agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler shares his views on globalisation and the market economy, and in particular, the role of politics in mastering the globalisation of world trade.

Speaking at the European Forum Alpbach on Tuesday Fischler confirmed his belief that globalisation demands a global framework, and world wide rules. "I am convinced that we must reinforce the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation,"​ he said. As such, for Fischler the current WTO round is the perfect opportunity to 'hammer out' the rules and 'to reach our EU goals: further liberalisation and a better deal for the developing world'.

The rules are undoubtedly more urgent today than ever before. According to Fischler, since 1960 world trade has grown 15-fold, world production has quadrupled and world per capita income has more than doubled. The EU and the US alone exchange €1 billion in trade every day.

What is more, according to figures from the International Chamber of Commerce, apparently around one third of world trade today is trade within multinational companies. In 1970 there were 7,000 transnational companies, but in just 30 years this figure has multiplied more than eight times to reach 60,000.

But what about this 'better deal for the developing world'? Fischler underlines the fact that liberalisation and a good deal for the developing world are at the core of the globalisation debate. He maintains that the EU has adopted a negotiating position that would give developing countries a better deal. 'For example, we support their free access to medicines and we are ready to given them special and preferential treatment in trade'.

He goes on to add that in agriculture, "contrary to the rhetoric one hears all the time, the EU is already today one of the world's most open markets to imports of farm products from developing countries. We import more agricultural products from developing countries than the US, Australia, Japan and Canada, taken together".​

On the subject of tariffs, the commissioner maintains that we should bear in mind that all developing countries are not the same. "Even if we were to open our markets fully for developing countries, and abolish all our tariffs and subsidies, this would only help the most competitive among them and it would wipe out the export possibilities of the weaker,"​ suggests Fischler.

"What makes a lot more sense are targeted initiatives in favour of the developing countries, such as our 'Everything but Arms' initiative, where the EU gives the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) tariff-free access to our market for non-military goods."​

In a move to silence critics of the dominant position the EU and the US wields in the WTO talks, Fischler commented: "We know perfectly well that it is not good enough if the two biggies dance the waltz, in the WTO it takes 146 to tango. That's why we conducted our talks [agricultural negotiations] with the US in a fully transparent way, so that the other WTO members do not feel left out."​

Only in two weeks time when the 146 countries meet up in Cancun to hammer out trade discussions will we see if Fischler stays true to his words.