Top firms complain of being shut out of trade talks

Date: 29/03/01

By Peter Chapman

A COALITION of leading EU and US firms is warning European Commission President Romano Prodi that they are being shut out of talks on controversial new fair trade proposals.

Health and consumer protection chief David Byrne is rounding up support from other Commissioners for his evolving proposal to force companies to abide by strict new pan-European rules on advertising and marketing. The former Irish attorney-general hopes to unveil his blueprint in a policy paper at next month's informal meeting of Consumer and Single Market ministers in Lund, Sweden.

But industry groups claim they have so far been denied the chance to air a growing list of concerns over the plan. Among those speaking out are Maja Wessels, chair of the influential EU committee of the American Chamber of Commerce; Alistair Tempest, director-general of FEDMA, the European direct marketing lobby; and Bernhard Adriaensens, managing director of the World Federation of Advertisers.

They say firms have not been invited to the few Commission-sponsored events at which the issue has been discussed. And they argue that their exclusion goes against the spirit of Prodi's forthcoming White Paper on governance - which is expected to tout the need for better coordination with stakeholders before new rules are drafted.

"To date our organisations and members have had limited opportunity to share our views governing relations between business and consumers," the executives say in a letter to Prodi this week. "Bearing in mind the potential significance of the European Commission's work, we wish to play a constructive and active part in this dialogue."

The industry leaders are also warning that the initiative is being developed without a proper assessment of whether it is even needed. They claim it "has the potential to overlap" with work already started in other parts of the Commission, notably Frits Bolkestein's Single Market department.

These include a communication touting a strategy for services, a directive on electronic commerce approved last year by EU governments and a forthcoming policy paper on the single market for sales promotion.

In private, the letters' signatories fear the linchpin of Byrne's plan will be a directive with a clause requiring firms to "trade fairly". They claim this would be interpreted in different ways by different member states according to their national perspectives on consumer protection.

This, they say, would hamper the single market by leaving firms operating across frontiers exposed to different rules and regulations.

A coalition of leading EU and US firms is warning European Commission President Romano Prodi that they are being shut out of talks on controversial new fair trade proposals. Health and consumer protection chief David Byrne is rounding up support from other Commissioners for his evolving proposal to force companies to abide by strict new pan-European rules on advertising and marketing. He hopes to unveil his blueprint at the forthcoming informal meeting of Consumer and Single Market ministers in Lund, Sweden.