GREENING EU TRADE: INTEGRATING DEVELOPMENT AS THE MISSING PART OF THE TRIANGLE

Strong critique that has been levied against the EU’s unilateral trade measures signals that without acknowledging that greening trade is affecting and will disproportionately affect some of its most vulnerable trade partners, and taking strong action to address this, the EU’s green trade agenda will not flourish. In a recent publication titled “EU trade and the environment: Development as the missing side of the triangle”, Europe Jacques Delors calls for a new EU approach to greening trade that fullyintegrates the development dimension and suggests a new way forward focused on an improved narrative, a diversified approach, and the development of new trade instruments and approaches to policy making.

During this virtual event, ideas will be presented on how the EU can better integrate the development dimension in its green trade instruments. Participants will be invited to reflect on and debate the various recommendations put forward by the authors.

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As the greening of the EU’s trade policy continues to progress at a rapid pace, the EU’s trading partners are increasingly concerned about the impact of such measures on international trade. In particular, developed and least developed countries (LDCs) are likely to be more affected by such measures.

This was the topic of the one-hour session organized by Europe Jacques Delors (EJD) in the context of the WTO Trade and Environment Week 2023.

Colette van der Ven, Senior Associate Researcher at EJD, presented the three pillars of the EU's new approach to the issue, as suggested by EJD and outlined in our recent publication titled "EU Trade and the Environment: Development as the missing side of the triangle", – edition nº14 of our Greening Trade series.

1) An improved narrative based on responsibility, leadership and justice;
2) A diversified approach based on multilateral, bilateral and plurilateral engagement with developing countries and LDCs;
3) The development of a new set of instruments, including capacity building and improved transparency and predictability.

Our external speaker, Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Director of the Forum on Trade, Environment & the SDGs (TESS), explained the context of developing countries, their climate-related goals and priorities which differ from those of the EU, and addressed some of the most common concerns raised in this regard. She stressed the need for better policy coherence and an integrated approach by the EU.