Press Release: EU reports about progress in fight against protectionism

On 20 March 2014, the European Commission was able to report about some good progress towards removing some of the most trade-distortive barriers that hinder EU companies’ access to the markets of China, India, Japan, Mercosur (Brazil/Argentina), Russia and the US, whereas some deep-rooted protectionist barriers still persist in some countries. This is the result of the Trade and Investment Barriers Report (TIBR) that the European Commission will present to the European Council on the same day. This fourth edition of the report describes progress made in 2013 on barriers identified in previous editions and analyses some of the most serious new measures put in place. The EU will continue to use its Market Access Strategy to address the obstacles and expand trade and investment opportunities for EU businesses.