Patten persuades doubters to support Balkans trade deal

Date: 14/09/00

By Simon Taylor

EU FOREIGN ministers will next week approve a package granting duty-free access to 95% of imports from Balkan states, giving a major boost to the region's economic links with the Union.

Officials have welcomed the decision to endorse the deal, which is seen as a crucial part of the Union's strategy to bring prosperity and political stability to the Balkans. "The member states saw the strategic importance of this package," said one.Spain, Portugal and Italy were initially opposed to some aspects of the deal, but dropped their objections after receiving assurances from External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten that trade concessions could be withdrawn if the EU market was flooded with imports from the region. The European Commission also agreed to toughen up anti-fraud measures.

The agreement, drawn up by the Commission in July, offers a range of trade concessions to Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Although Montenegro will not benefit from the measures, because as part of the Republic of Yugoslavia it does not have an independent customs service, it will be able to export 50,000 tonnes of aluminium and aluminium by-products to the Union duty-free.

The package abolishes most import quotas and ends tariffs on 95% of industrial and agricultural exports to the EU, although some restrictions will remain in force for exports of fisheries products and wine.

Spain and Portugal had called for temporary quotas to be created for certain products to ensure imports into the Union did not soar suddenly. But they withdrew their demand after the Commission pointed out that the concessions were being granted unilaterally by the EU and could be withdrawn if they had a damaging impact on the Union market.

Italy also voiced concern about a possible surge in wine imports if political change in Serbia results in the deal being extended to the rest of Yugoslavia. But the Commission has promised that the overall quota would not increase if Serbia was added to the list of countries benefiting from the package.

The French presidency had suggested retaining import quotas for sensitive agricultural products as a way of securing wider political support for the deal. But these were abandoned over the summer as it became clear that governments were prepared to approve the package without extra conditions.

EU foreign ministers are due to approve a package granting duty-free access to 95% of imports from Balkan states, giving a major boost to the region's economic links with the Union.