Members of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee will be in Geneva this week to participate in the WTO Public Forum and the 55th session of the Parliamentary Committee WTO Steering Committee. There, the Members will also hold meetings with representatives from the WTO and WTO members.

A delegation of six MEPs from the European Parliament’s Trade Committee will meet with key officials, including the Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the World Trade Organisation.They will also meet ambassadors of important trading partners such as the US, India and Canada.

It will provide an opportunity to discuss current trade challenges, how to preserve multilateralism in trade and commerce, and how to move forward with the reform of WTO.

The delegation is led by the INTA Chair, Bernd Lange (S&D, DE), who stated in advance of the meeting: “Never before has the WTO been under attack like today. Major economic powers are disregarding its foundation, undermining multilateral trade and promoting the law of the strongest. Especially for small countries that lack the potential to defend their rights against stronger players the WTO is vital and therefore the European Parliament will continue to uphold the flag of rule-based, multilateral trade. It is clear that the WTO needs reform but the solution can’t be to just turn back time. We need to look ahead and the WTO Public Forum with its mix of civil society, academia, business, government, international organisations. It provides a unique opportunity to work together with like-minded partners on the future of global trade policy and offers great potential for fruitful progress in reforming the WTO, ensuring that no member is left behind!”

The composition of the delegation: