7 Accession of the Yemen to the WTO
| (35416)
15305/13
COM(13) 720
| Draft Council Decision establishing the European Union position within the relevant instance of the World Trade Organisation on the accession of Yemen to the World Trade Organisation
|
| Legal base | Articles 91, 100(2) and 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU; QMV
|
| Document originated | 23 October 2013
|
| Deposited in Parliament | 24 October 2013
|
| Department | Business, Innovation and Skills
|
| Basis of consideration | EM of 5 November 2013
|
| Previous Committee Report | None
|
| Discussion in Council | See para 7.6 below
|
| Committee's assessment | Legally important
|
| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
|
Background
7.1 The process of World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession
consists of two strands. First, individual WTO members agree bilateral
arrangements with the acceding country regarding market access
for industrial goods, agricultural trade, and services, the outcomes
of these individual negotiations then being amalgamated into the
Schedules of Commitments and the best offers granted to all WTO
members on the 'Most-Favoured Nation' (MFN) principle. Secondly,
there are discussions on the compatibility or otherwise of the
trade policy regime of the acceding member with the multilateral
agreements and obligations which constitute WTO membership. This
process — which the Commission negotiates on behalf of the
EU Member States — effectively sets out the terms and conditions
of the acceding party's membership, and, once these have been
agreed, a vote must be taken in the General Council of the WTO
on allowing the new member to join.
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL
7.2 The Commission has recently put forward this draft Council
Decision proposing that, at a special meeting of the WTO General
Council on 3-6 December 2013, the EU should support the accession
of Yemen, which applied to become a member in 2000.
The Government's view
7.3 In his Explanatory Memoranda of 5 November 2013, the Minister
for Trade and Investment at the Department for Business, Enterprise
and Skills (Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint) says that, whilst the
UK has only a limited economic interest,[39]
it supports the accession of Yemen to the WTO, which will help
it to undertake domestic reforms, create jobs, and build opportunities
for marginalised groups, such as youth and women. It will also
enable foreign businesses, including those from the UK, to operate
in a more transparent and predictable business environment, with
better protection also for intellectual property rights.
7.4 The Minister adds that the Government agrees
with the Commission that the accession terms are reasonable, and
represent a balanced but ambitious package of market opening commitments,
given the Yemen's level of development and the small size of its
economy. He also points out that it is the Government's policy
to support the accessions of least developed countries (LDCs),
and the UK was at the forefront in pressing for increased flexibilities
in their accession process. He adds that WTO membership will allow
Yemen to benefit from market access and global trading rules and
the transparency of the WTO trading system, and that it will also
be able to use the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism to solve its
differences with other members and fully participate in the on-going
negotiations to design the trade rules of the future.
7.5 The Minister goes on to observe that the
UK is bound by commitments to admit services professionals from
all existing WTO Members in accordance with its so-called 'Mode
4' commitments under the General Agreement in Trade in Services
(GATS), and that these commitments will be extended to Yemen when
it becomes a WTO Member. However, he regards it as unlikely that
this would give rise to a significant increase in the number of
arrivals from Yemen, as the Mode 4 categories are tightly defined,
with a clear focus on highly skilled, highly qualified services
professionals. He also notes that this measure has been proposed
under Article 207(6) TFEU, which is a non-Title V legal base.
However, as EU legislation requiring Member States to open their
markets to the provision of services by natural persons from third
countries would impose JHA obligations on the UK, the Government's
view is that the UK's JHA opt-in is engaged.
7.6 Finally, the Minister says that, although
the timing of a Council Decision on this proposal has yet to be
established, the assumption is that it will in time to enable
Yemen's accession to be approved by the WTO General Council on
3-6 December.
Conclusion
7.7 This draft Decision supporting the accession
to the WTO of Yemen is clearly to be welcomed on policy grounds,
with the main point of interest arising — as on a number
of previous accessions — over the UK intention to exercise
its Mode 4 opt-in rights under Title V TFEU in the absence of
an appropriate legal base. We have in those instances exchanged
differing views with the Government over the legality of asserting
opt-in rights in the absence of a Title V legal base, and our
view remains that such a base is necessary for the UK to exercise
those rights. Consequently, we would like the Government to indicate
whether a Title V legal base will be added to the Council Decision
accordingly, and also whether the UK will opt-in to the Mode 4
provisions. Pending its response to these points, we propose to
hold the document under scrutiny.
39 UK exports of goods to Yemen from 2009 to 2012 averaged
about £70 million a year. Back
|
