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1 (December 6, 2006)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthaaefj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS22547 December 6, 2006 CRS Report for Congress Europe's New Trade Agenda Raymond J. Ahearn Specialist in International Trade and Finance Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary Soon after the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations came to a standstill in July 2006, the European Union (EU) announced its intention to enter into more bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs). While the EU historically has been a leading force for preferential trade agreements, its main priority for the past five years has been negotiating an ambitious Doha Round agreement. Given that the EU is a global economic superpower, its resumption of a bilateral and preferential trade strategy has implications for the global trading system, as well as for U.S. trade interests. As articulated in a recently released policy paper, the EU will prioritize FTAs with areas according to their economic potential rather than on development aims. This report summarizes the EU's new initiative, casts the initiative in historical perspective, and assesses the implications of this shift for the global trading system and for U.S. interests. This report will be updated as events warrant. See also CRS Report RL30732, Trade Conflict and the U.S. -European Union Economic Relationship. The EU's Trade Shift The European Commission announced on October 4, 2006, that it was adopting a new trade policy that will support efforts to foster economic growth and create jobs. Based on concern that European exports have not been successful enough in some of the most rapidly growing economies in the world, the Commission proposed shifting EU trade policy from sole reliance on multilateral trade negotiations to proposing a new generation of bilateral and regional FTAs.1 The essence of the strategy will be that FTAs should be negotiated with the EU's most important trading partners around the globe, as soon as possible. By the end of this year, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson hopes that the EU Council of Ministers 1 This section is drawn from a European Commission Staff Working Document, Global Europe: Competing In the World { Com(2006)567 final}, October 4, 2006. Congressional Research Service , The Library of Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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