Ref. Ares(2024)4009098 - 04/06/2024
EVP Valdis Dombrovskis
Intro Remarks for Meeting with European Round Table for
Industry (ERT)
25 March 2022
•
Art.4(1)(b)
,
Art.4(1)(b)
, ladies and gentlemen,
• I am grateful for this opportunity to engage with you. The war in
Ukraine and its wider geopolitical consequences require us to
remain in close contact. Your input is vital as we carefully
assess how the EU should plan its next steps.
• First of all, there is the immediate response to Russia’s il egal
and barbaric aggression.
• Our decision to impose four rounds of economic and financial
sanctions on Russia was essential. Our goal is to cripple
Putin’s ability to finance his war machine.
• The sanctions are biting and Russia’s economy is in dire
straits.
• Let me say that the European Commission appreciates your
support for the EU course of action so far.
• We have achieved a rapid and remarkable degree of
coordination with the U.S. and other key allies.
• We continue to monitor the situation extremely closely. We aim
to be agile as well as effective. We continue to assess all
options, both for providing further support to Ukraine and for
targeting Russia’s economy.
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• Of course, this moment of crisis is also impacting on our wider
economic planning.
• We are looking at ways to mitigate the economic effect of the
war. We are assessing the impact of our sanctions and of
Russia’s wide-ranging counter-measures on our economies.
We are exploring the best ways to mitigate the energy crisis.
• The stakes are clear: We have to be ready to live with
sanctions for some time, we have to reduce our dependencies
on a hostile Russia, and we have to enhance the overall
resilience of our economies.
• Our economies wil clearly have to pay a price, but this is a
price worth paying in defence of democracy and the right of
sovereign nations to self-determination. It is a price worth
paying to preserve European and global security.
• I am fully aware that you had a good exchange with EU leaders
at the start of March on the implications for Europe’s long-term
industrial outlook.
• Let me offer some perspectives in this regard.
• You wil recall that the goal of the new EU trade strategy is to
enhance our “open strategic autonomy”.
• In the current context, discussions around this subject have
increased in both frequency and urgency.
• For trade and trade policy, the implications are wide-ranging:
• First, it means that the time when we could separate economic
objectives from strategic and geopolitical ones is definitely
over.
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• It might not be a comfortable reality for the EU because of the
different levels of integration between our policies.
• But when we face a strategic challenge such as this, we have
no choice but to mobilise all our policy tools simultaneously and
coherently.
• The strength and unity of our actions has been remarkable.
• The unprecedented scope of the measures adopted in recent
weeks prove that EU action can be swift, effective and
coordinated when we have a clear strategic purpose in mind.
• Some of the measures adopted, such as restrictions on imports
of certain Russian goods, and many others in the field of
security, military, energy or migration policy show how agile
Europe can be in a time of crisis.
• Second, we need to maintain our focus on the rule of law and
support for a rules-based trading system. While some may be
tempted to respond in kind to blatant violations of international
law, we need to maintain our position.
• Strong international institutions, with fit-for-purpose rules, are
essential for maintaining our commitment to free, fair and
responsible trade.
• We therefore continue to pursue our strong reform agenda at
the WTO. We are working hard to build coalitions in support of
our approach in the build-up to MC12.
• Third, international cooperation is critical – united we stand,
divided we fall. Russia had underestimated the strength of our
unity and our resolve both within the EU, but also with our
international allies.
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• Our trade policy and trade agreements are an important vehicle
for strengthening our ties and building the platforms of
cooperation we need to pursue our objectives. And always, our
values must be at the centre of our work.
• For example, resurgent transatlantic cooperation is absolutely
critical. The upcoming May meeting of the Trade and
Technology Council is an important milestone.
• Because if the EU and U.S. do not lead the way in shaping the
rules, tools and standards of the future, we now see very
clearly what the alternative is.
• In this sense, the war in Ukraine makes it totally clear that
setting up the TTC was the right thing to do.
• Our wider bilateral and multilateral trade agenda wil have a
key role to play in the coming years.
• Bilateral agreements wil be essential, because working with
our global partners is how the EU achieves results.
• Our network of free trade agreements provides a platform to
help cement alliances.
• They wil also help us to address our strategic dependencies,
particularly in the most sensitive areas such as critical raw
materials.
• This cannot be achieved via isolation or autarky but only via
diversifying our imports and securing stable and predictable
trading relationships.
• We should avail of the opportunities to diversify our sources of
supply. To build new, mutual y beneficial business and trade
relationships, underpinned by rules and values.
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• If we try to provide for al our needs by ourselves, if we close
down trade channels, we end up having a weakened industrial
base, fewer and worse paid jobs, less choice and more
expensive goods and services.
• In fact, this is what we see now with the exclusion of Russia
from global trade, where we immediately see those negative
effects.
• We therefore remain convinced that openness to trade must
remain a central element of Europe’s economic strategy.
• However dependencies, such as our energy dependence on
Russia, cannot continue. This is how we address the “strategic
autonomy” dimension of our open strategic autonomy.
• And the urgency of tackling the distortive effects of non-market
practices has likewise accelerated.
• We cannot be at the mercy of players who not only oppose our
values, but actively undermine them.
• Diversifying our trade relationships wil also help to make up for
lost exports, given that Russia was the EU’s fifth biggest export
market in 2021.
• The current crisis highlights the urgent need to address global
sustainability challenges and accelerate the EU’s energy
transition.
• So, while we aim to ratify agreements and conclude ongoing
negotiations, we wil put a much stronger focus on extracting
maximum value from existing deals.
• We cannot sit on our hands during this period of geopolitical
shifts; the time to act is now.
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