Trade and foreign affairs MEPs at G20 Parliamentary Forum
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29. Oktober 2018 In Aktuell, Aktuell - Europa

Trade and foreign affairs MEPs at G20 Parliamentary Forum

Trade and foreign affairs MEPs participate at the first Parliamentary Forum in the context of the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires (Argentina), and hold talks with the Argentine government, parliamentarians and civil society between 30 October-2 November.

The nine-member delegation, led by foreign affairs committee chair David McAllister (EPP, DE) and trade committee co-chair Iuliu Winkler (EPP, RO), is set to meet parliamentarians, government representatives, civil society and business organisations. They are to discuss issues such as the ongoing EU-Mercosur trade talks, and regional issues such as the situation in Venezuela.

The members of the delegation are the following:

  •  David McAllister (EPP, DE), co-chair of delegation, chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
  •  Iuliu Winkler (EPP. RO), co-chair of delegation, vice-chair of the Committee on International Trade
  •  José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (EPP, ES)
  •  Laima Liucija Andrikiené (EPP, LT)
  • Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández (S&D, ES)
  • Amjad Bashir (ECR, UK)
  • Urmas Paet (ALDE, ET)
  • Stelius Kouloglou (GUE/NGL, EL)
  • Franz Obermayr (ENF, AT)

The delegation is going to participate the G20 Parliamentary Forum held 31 October – 1 November which will gather parliamentarians from all corners of the globe ahead of the G20 leader’s summit.

Quotes

“The participation of the European Parliament delegation at the G20 Parliamentary Forum is part of our Parliament’s broader efforts to strengthen multilateralism and free trade. At a time when some of our partners have decided to become more protectionist and inward-looking, the EP is committed to promoting multilateral cooperation as the only effective response to global challenges,” said delegation co-chair David McAllister.

„We are looking forward to the P20 Summit as a forum able to boost the legitimacy of the G20 decisions globally. Faced with an alarming rise in protectionism, we reaffirm our commitment to the multilateral rules-based trading system. We seek to find support for the EU proposal on the modernization of the WTO, confident in the strong role that parliamentary diplomacy has to play in this exercise,” said delegation co-chair Iuliu Winkler.

Background

The G20 is an international forum for the 20 leading economies (including the EU) to discuss global economic and financial policy issues, as well as other critical issues, with the aim of promoting multilateral co-operation. For the first time, a Parliamentary Forum is organised ahead of the leaders’ summit to channel G20 parliaments’ input into the policy discussions.

The EU is the second largest trading partner of Argentina, with bilateral trade governed by an economic co-operation agreement. Under the current government, the country has been working on improving its trade and investment climate, removing a number of trade and investment barriers. As a member of Mercosur, it is also part of the ongoing negotiations of an EU-Mercosur Association Agreement.

Mercosur is a grouping of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The EU has been negotiating an association agreement, including a comprehensive trade agreement with the group since 2000. Talks were relaunched in 2016. After almost 20 years of ups and downs, including a six-year interruption from 2004 until 2010, there is now a window of opportunity for concluding the EU-Mercosur negotiations