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EU Statement at the General Council meeting, 6-7 May 2026

08.05.2026
Geneva
EU mission to the WTO in Geneva - Press and information team

Statement Delivered by Ambassador Maria Martin-Prat

1. Election of Chairperson

Let me start by joining others in expressing our condolences on the passing of His Excellency, Mahbubur Rahman, the late Commerce Secretary of Bangladesh. We stand in solidarity with his family, colleagues, and the people of Bangladesh. I would also like to express our appreciation and gratitude for the work and leadership of Ambassador Almoqbel, and welcome you, Ambassador Kelly, as a new Chair of the General Council.

I must say that it is a bit strange for me to be welcoming others, having been in my post for hardly 48 hours. Still, you do have not only our welcoming, but also our support. Clare, you can count on the work and the cooperation of the European Union in the task that you have ahead.

And finally, thank you to all of you for the welcoming words. I do look forward to work with the Director General, with all the different chairs, with all the members, with each and all of you. I can say that you can continue to count with the dedication and with the work and engagement of the European Union in the functioning and the reform of the WTO.

Thank you very much.

1.2 Follow-up to MC14 (Yaoundé)

  • The EU would like to start by thanking Cameroon for its outstanding hospitality and efforts in hosting MC14.

  • While we recognise the unprecedented and challenging backdrop to MC14, the European Union deeply regrets that we were unable to agree substantive outcomes in Yaoundé at this critical moment for the global trading system.

  • We must take collective responsibility for this setback. We now need to agree on a way forward as a matter of urgency.

 

  • On WTO reform, in the European Union’s view, the absence of an outcome at MC14 masks the fact that the membership got very close to adopting the reform statement and an operational work plan covering the key reform areas.

  • There was an overwhelming support for reform among the membership and the convergence we achieved on the latest version of the text.

  • This should be recognised and we need to avoid backsliding.  

  • We would be ready to adopt the WTO reform statement and work plan today, if there was consensus. But even without a workplan, we can build on the many months of rich conversations on reform that took place in the facilitator-led process.

  • Over the last year, we have progressed in establishing the diagnostics on the challenges that the WTO faces. Members should now continue and deepen that discussion, based on proposals, and under the auspices of the GC Chair.

  • We invite Members to come forward with submissions and contributions on reform in a member driven process. The European Union intends to contribute with concrete proposals on reform in the coming months. We are in your hands, Chair, and welcome your guidance on how to organise our work progressively, in an orderly and inclusive manner, as proposals and ideas from Members will continue to emerge.

 

  • On the e-commerce moratorium, the EU deeply regrets that no agreement on the extension of the e-commerce moratorium and the Work Programme was reached in Yaoundé.  We were very close. The news we got today show we are getting closer.

  • For nearly 28 years, the moratorium has been a cornerstone of global digital trade, providing legal certainty, predictability and a stable environment for business. Its lapse risks fragmentation, increased costs and uncertainty affecting both developed and developing countries. 

  • We were very close to delivering an unprecedented extension of the moratorium at MC14 that most of the membership appeared ready to sign up to. Restoring the multilateral moratorium remains an urgent priority for the EU. Our stakeholders are expecting this.

  • We believe that the compromise text included in the MC14 Chair’s summary—to extend the moratorium until December 2030, paired with a strengthened Work Programme—represents a balanced and pragmatic way forward.

  • The EU supports this approach as a basis for negotiations, as it strikes a fair compromise between predictability for trade and concerns about the development dimension raised by many members.

  • We believe that we should continue exploring possible options and we call for sustained engagement from all Members to keep the negotiation on a multilateral solution alive. We also welcome your guidance, Chair.

  • While the multilateral moratorium remains our key priority, we are open to considering other options if they serve as a stepping stone toward our multilateral objective. In this regard, we want to underline as well the importance of swiftly implementing the E-commerce Agreement and of widening its membership.

 

  • On Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA), we fully support the way forward as agreed by the IFDA membership. 

  • We welcome Comoros as the 130th WTO member joining the Agreement. Having a new member underscores the overwhelming and unwavering support – which we all witnessed at MC14 – for the Agreement’s incorporation into the WTO framework. The call of 130 WTO Members cannot remain unanswered. We want IFDA to be incorporated into the WTO rulebook, as a matter of priority.

 

  • Finally, on agriculture, at this moment in time, we sense that there is a need to have an open and inclusive discussion in the CoASS on how to take forward the work post-MC14, by building on some of the common challenges that we all have, out of which food security remains one of the most relevant.

 

  • On Development, we regret that the lack of outcomes at MC14 also means that none of the specific LDC requests could be harvested.

  • The EU is ready to continue engaging on development issues in the context of WTO reform as well as on different proposals by developing country members, including LDCs, in the relevant committees.

5. Request for Observer Status by the African Union – Communication from Mozambique on behalf of the African Group (WT/MIN(26)/9 – WT/GC/W/995) – Request from Namibia on behalf of the African Group

  • The EU welcomes the African Group’s request to grant the African Union observer status in the General Council. The EU also recalls the support expressed by the EU and the African Union for rules-based trade and their joint commitment to reforming the WTO as set out in the Joint Declaration adopted at the EU-African Union summit on 24 and 25 November last year.

  • The EU supports this request, which will strengthen the presence of African countries in WTO deliberations, thereby promoting an inclusive and representative multilateral trading system.

8. Preserving the Spirit of Open and Predictable Trade: Collective Restraint Against Actions Undermining Trade Liberalization – Request from the Republic of Korea 

  • We thank the Republic of Korea for the presentation of its ideas and concerns, a number of which we share. The EU believes that a level playing field is essential for the functioning of the multilateral trading system. But the current WTO rulebook was not designed to address the challenge of structural overcapacity. Non-market overcapacity continues to distort global trade. It undermines the industrial development of both developed and developing WTO Members.

  • Non-market overcapacity is one of the pressing realities that remain unaddressed because of gaps in WTO rules. Its root causes are State interventions that artificially sustain or expand production beyond market demand. This gap undermines the predictability and fairness of global trade. 

  • Therefore, we believe that WTO Members should work together as part of the WTO reform work to address the shortcomings in the rules related to State intervention in support of industrial sectors in the WTO rulebook.

  • Non-market overcapacity is a shared challenge that requires a shared response. The EU stands ready to work with all WTO Members to find a long-term solution to shared challenges and to tackle the root causes of this problem.

  • The republic of Korea has referred to modification of concessions and has asked that Members exercise maximum restraint and try to calibrate the measures they take. The European Union is taking measures within the boundaries of the WTO rule book. The proposed EU steel regulation aims at tackling the negative trade-related effects of global overcapacity on the EU steel market.

  • This is something that the rules-based international trading system allows protecting, and this is why the EU is exercising its right of modification of concessions under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994.

  • By using Article XXVIII, the EU is demonstrating its respect for the multilateral trading system and giving other WTO Members the opportunity to engage on this matter and to exercise their GATT rights in this respect.

  • Again, we do believe that the rules need to be updated and completed. But for now, on the basis of existing rules, we are taking measures that we believe are within the respect of our commitments.

9. Dialogue on Emerging Agricultural Trade Issues – Communication from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Peru, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Uruguay (WT/MIN(26)/40) 

  • The European Union would like to thank Peru for their presentation.

  • We take note as well of the Statement on a Dialogue on Emerging Agricultural Trade Issues issued in the margins of MC14.

  • The EU is interested in reflections on how the multilateral trading system can better support agriculture and food systems towards sustainability and resilience, given their contribution to food security. 

  • A Dialogue which can support reflections on how to address pressing sustainability challenges can be useful, but it must remain open, informal and inclusive. 

  • The EU remains open to continue exchanging with the entire membership on how the multilateral trading system can help us address common challenges and support transition to sustainable agriculture.