Transcript Slide 1

How can trade contribute to
growth and jobs?
The role of EU trade policy
Signe Ratso
Director
Directorate General of Trade
European Commission
Outline
• Trade and growth
• Trade and jobs (new studies on factors
contribution to trade)
• Greek exporters (firm level data)
• Trade policy
• Market access strategy
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Trade is a source of growth…
• Growth in EU depends on global growth:
• EU countries can benefit from the emergence of new
economic powers (Brazil, India, China and Russia)
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…and trade supports jobs
• In 2007, extra-EU exports supported around 25
million jobs, which represented around 11% of total
employment in the EU27.
• This represents an increase of 3 million exportrelated jobs since 2000.
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…but in Greece less than in other countries
Employment
supported by extraEU exports as a
percentage of total
employment (2007)
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- In Greece, in 2007, the sales of goods and services to
the rest of the world supported the jobs of 128.000
people, which represents only around 3% of total
employment.
- Moreover, (and contrary to what happen in the EU as
a whole), the contribution of trade to job creation has
decreased. In 2000, the jobs of 231.000 Greeks were
supported by extra-EU exports.
•
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Many factors contributed to this:
Member
States
Embodied
Embodied
Extra-EU
Total
employment in Employment employment
exports
exports
Extra-EU
shares
per million € shares over
shares
exports (1,000
(%)
of extra -EU total exports over GDP
employees)
exports
(%)
(%)
2000
Belgium
EU27
Greece
2007
344
356
22,000
25,020
231
128
2000 2007 2000
8.4
2007
2000
24.8
8.1
9.0
7.6
10.5 11.2
19.8
15.4
21.6
9.2
5.9
3.0
Extra-EU
exports
shares
over GDP
(%)
2007 2000 2007 2000 2007
23.7 61.2
59.3 15.2
14.0
100.0 100.0 12.1
13.1 12.1
13.1
49.0
42.1 15.8
14.7
7.7
6.2
• Greece exports tend be more oriented towards extra-EU
markets than the EU average but…
• the share of exports over GDP remains well below that of
other (comparable) small EU Member States (for example
Belgium)…
• while Greek exports have become less labour intensive than
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the EU27 average
0
20 40 60 80
Exporters (%)
100
Looking at micro-data: many Greek
firms are exporters….
16 Tobacco
35 Other transport equip.
22 Printing and publishing
26 Other non-metallic mineral
33 Medical, precision and optical instr.
34 Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
19 Leather and footwear
23 Coke, refined petroleum and nucl.fuel
18 Wearing apparel
20 Wood and products of wood
27 Basic metals
25 Rubber and plastics
36 Manufacturing n.e.c.
15 Food and beverages
24 Chemicals
21 Pulp and paper
29 Machinery and equipment, n.e.c.
32 Radio, TV and communication equipment
17 Textiles
28 Fabr. metal exc. machinery and equip.
31 Electrical machinery and apparatus, n.e.c.
30 Office, accounting and computing machinery
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16 Tobacco
37 Recycling
22 Printing and publishing
20 Wood and products of wood
21 Pulp and paper
34 Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers
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30 Office, accounting and computing machinery
23 Coke, refined petroleum and nucl.fuel
36 Manufacturing n.e.c.
24 Chemicals
26 Other non-metallic mineral
28 Fabr. metal exc. machinery and equip.
29 Machinery and equipment, n.e.c.
25 Rubber and plastics
32 Radio, TV and communication equipment
15 Food and beverages
27 Basic metals
31 Electrical machinery and apparatus, n.e.c.
17 Textiles
18 Wearing apparel
33 Medical, precision and optical instr.
35 Other transport equip.
19 Leather and footwear
0
The average export
share is 30%
(export revenue/turnover
of exporters; nonexporters are not
included)
20 40 60 80
100
….but they sell abroad only a small
fraction of their output
The weaknesses can be the basis of
future export growth:
• The prevalence of marginal exporters can
explain the disappointing export performance
in manufacturing.
• On the positive side: marginal exporters can
turn to foreign markets more easily than
firms that have never exported.
• this process can lead to a long-term
successful expansion of the export sector
only if the bigger firms are involved
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11
Trade and investment policy –
how we engage with our partners
Multilateral policy
(WTO/DDA)
Our trade strategy
Bilateral agreements
(mainly Free Trade Agreements)
Market Access Strategy
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12
Bilateral agreements – state of play
EFTA
Turkey
SAA
Central
America
Mexico
Euro-Med
South Korea
Caribbean
ACP
Columbia/
Peru
South Africa
Chile
Agreements in force
Negotiations concluded
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Bilateral agreements – the way ahead
Russia
Ukraine
Eastern
Partners
Canada
Japan
USA
Euro-Med
Gulf
countries
African
EPAs
India
Malaysia
Singapore
Pacific
EPAs
Other
ASEAN
Mercosur
EPAs: Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP countries
Euromed: Forthcoming negotiations on deep and comprehensive Free
Trade Agreements
Russia: Commitment to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement already
contained in the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1997
Negotiations ongoing
Negotiations under
consideration
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The example of the EU-South
Korea Free Trade Agreement
• 1.6 billion Euros in customs duties saved per year
• Creates new trade opportunities (after full implementation the
EU is expected to increase goods and services exports by
nearly 20 billion Euros)
• Access for service suppliers
• Tackling non-tariff barriers
• Enhanced access to government procurement
• Protection of intellectual property
• Strong competition rules
• Commitment to sustainable development
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Market Access Strategy
• Cooperation between Commission,
Member States and business to identify,
analyse and remove barriers
• Importance of preventive action (“early
warning”)
• 200 key barriers identified in more than
30 markets (publicly available on Market
Access Database)
• Around 50 “success stories” per year
• Strong focus on SMEs
• Market Access Committee, sectoral
Market Access Working Groups and Local
Market Access Teams
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Local Market Access Teams
• In more than 30 third countries
• Local knowledge of the situation by EU
Delegation, Member States Embassies and
business representatives
• Early warning function: easier to address
potential barriers
• Assessment of the likely economic impact of
market access barriers
• SME contact points available soon
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Trade finance
• There is potentially also a liquidity crisis that
is currently affecting trade conducted on an
open account basis.
• Task Force for Greece and other MSs' Export
Credit Agencies are considering solutions.
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Conclusions
• The growth outside the EU is a great
opportunity for EU countries: demand for
exports and sources of investments.
• DG TRADE is actively pursuing new
opportunities for EU firms (both through
multilateral fora and bilateral negotiations
and Market Access Strategy)
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