European Parliament Committee approves trade regulation and interagency negotiations
The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) has voted to approve the proposed new steel trade regime and launch interagency negotiations between Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Kallanish notes that the transfer of the unused quota to the next quarter was rejected.
The proposal to apply the "melting and transfusion" rule "only in cases where it is justified by the risks of circumvention" was also rejected. INTA voted to retain the original wording, which gives the European Commission the right to establish "detailed rules for determining the country in which steel used for production is smelted and bottled, and to amend Annex II to this Regulation."
The total proposed annual volume of the tariff quota remains at the level of 18,345,922 tons. Products from Russia and Belarus remain banned.
The Committee approved a proposal for the Commission to engage in "active and transparent communication with trading partners to clearly explain the reasons for this measure and identify ways to maintain equal and fair conditions so as not to disrupt the existing spirit of genuine trade cooperation, especially with existing and future free trade agreement partners who will be affected." this tool".
However, she rejected the suggestion that trading partners with free trade agreements with the EU receive preferential quota allocation. She also rejected the proposal to exclude Switzerland from the scope of the duty levied outside the quotas.
However, this was apparently contradicted by European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who told CNBC TV18 on Tuesday after the conclusion of the EU-India free trade agreement that India, as a partner in the free trade agreement, would have a privileged position in negotiations on access to the EU steel market.
The new trade regulation proposal raises a big question about how quota allocation negotiations will be conducted with the EU's numerous free trade agreement partners. This is likely to be a very complicated procedure, since free trade agreements protect preferential trade with the EU, and they will be very difficult to change, Van Bael & Bellis trade lawyer Yuriy Rudyuk said last month.
INTA also rejected the suggestion that a certain minimum share of added value, components or materials for government-funded projects should be obtained within the Union, and that in general public procurement, customer authorities should give preference to steel and steel-containing products produced by