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The EU initiative regarding the reform of the Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system and the setting up of the Multilateral Investment Court were the main topics discussed at the informal meeting of the Trade Policy Committee (Services and Investments) held on Monday and Tuesday in Bucharest, under the mandate of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the European Union, informs a press release of the Ministry for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship.
The Trade Policy Committee is in charge with the preparation of the decision-making process at the Council of EU level in respect to bilateral trade relations, with negotiations within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and with the EU legislation in the trade policy field, in services and investments.
At the Bucharest meeting, the representatives of member states and the European Commission discussed the EU strategy in e-commerce related negotiations carried out at WTO level. Negotiations were initiated on January 25, 2019, through a joint statement made in Davos by 76 WTO members, with their purpose being the establishment of global rules on e-commerce, such as: facilitation of cross-border e-commerce transactions and improvement of people's trust in the on-line environment, combating spam and permanently banning custom taxes in e-commerce.
They also discussed at the meeting of the Trade Policy Committee (Services and Investments) the initial text proposals of the European Union during these negotiations and also additional negotiation directives. The EU's goal is to initiate a transparent negotiation process and open to as many WTO members as possible and to generate new opportunities in cross-border e-commerce, including for SMEs, while eliminating some traditional obstacles related to distance.
According to the MMACA release, the Romanian presidency of the TPC-SI coordinated the debates in order to strengthen the EU stand with respect to the items on the agenda, by harmonising the member states' positions, its mandate being guided by the four main pillars of actions defined by the Romanian Presidency Programme: Europe of convergence, Europe of safety, Europe - global player and Europe of common values.
