Press Release: EU Trade Commissioner: fair and open global trade is a vital part of the Lisbon Strategy

Summary of a speech by EU Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson, given on 15 February 2005 at a High Level Seminar on the Lisbon Agenda organised by the Swedish Government in Stockholm, The Commissioner argued that external trade was an important dimension of the EU's drive for strong competitiveness and growth. As the world's leading exporter of goods and services and the world's leading investor abroad, Europe's companies and investors relied on open and fair international trade to compete, he added.