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“Summary of Decisions” 1. The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO met on 16 September 2010 at WTO Headquarters and was attended by 31 persons (see list of participants in the Annex). The session was chaired by Mr. V. Moreira, representing the European Parliament. At the start of the meeting, he welcomed new members (Belgium, Mauritius, South Africa and the United Kingdom) and explained that the Committee's IPU co-Chair was yet to be appointed by the IPU's governing bodies, following the departure of Mr. G. Versnick, who was no longer a member of parliament.
2. In the words of the Chair, the fact that the Steering Committee was holding its meeting on WTO premises was a small but dramatic step in the relationship between the Parliamentary Conference and the WTO. The importance of this development was also underscored by the WTO Director-General, Mr. Pascal Lamy, who took the time to greet the Steering Committee on "his" territory, in spite of being very busy with the WTO Public Forum 2010. His willingness to maintain a meaningful dialogue with parliamentarians was highly appreciated by the Committee.
3. In his introductory presentation, Mr. Lamy provided a detailed overview of the state of play in the Doha Round negotiations. Far from being the only activity on WTO's radar screen, the Round was the most visible one and continued to retain the priority attention of the Director-General. Although there were no signs of significant progress in the negotiations, a shift in attitudes had been perceptible since June 2010. That was partly due to pressure from developing countries, which were increasingly impatient to see the Doha Development Round deliver on its promise. There were also expectations that fresh political energy could be pumped into the negotiations by novel actors, such as the G20. A clearer picture of prospects for the conclusion of the Round should emerge after the mid-term elections in the United States of America.
4. In spite of the stalemate in the negotiations, the benefits of a rules-based, stable and predictable multilateral trading system were once again evidenced during the recent financial crisis. The WTO system's in-built deterrence mechanisms proved their worth, having served to avert any significant surge of trade-restricting measures. In the words of Mr. Lamy, "protectionism was the only dog that did not bark during the crisis". The menace of all-out protectionism having been forestalled, global trade was expected to pick up by more than 8 per cent in 2010. Nonetheless, protectionist pressures would continue as long as unemployment rates remained high.
5. The Director-General responded to numerous questions from the members of the Steering Committee. They dealt with diverse subjects such as the negative image of global trade in the eyes of public opinion, the danger of yet another food crisis, the role of non-State actors in shaping global trade policies, prospects for the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO, etc.
6. Responding to a direct question about the possibility of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO taking place one day at the Centre William Rappard, the WTO Director-General said that, from a purely pragmatic point of view, it would be a reasonable path to take. There were good vibrations between parliamentarians and the WTO, which were amplified by an absence of bad vibrations from WTO Members. Having said that, consultations about the possible holding of a parliamentary session on WTO premises would have to start early: the Centre William Rappard was an extremely busy place, with some 8,000 meetings taking place every year.
7. After the departure of the WTO Director-General, members of the Steering Committee once again expressed their satisfaction with the very positive and constructive spirit of his remarks. The prospects of holding a parliamentary session on WTO premises were finally taking shape. That was all the more encouraging in view of the success of the parliamentary panel organized by the IPU and the European Parliament earlier the same day, as part of the overall programme of the WTO Public Forum 2010. The panel, entitled "Can the existing multilateral trading system cope with the emerging challenges?", was not only well attended but was marked by a notably high degree of interaction between the panellists and the audience.
8. As part of its agenda, the Steering Committee considered issues relating to the organization of the next plenary session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO. It was decided that every effort should be made to hold the session in Geneva, in the first half of 2011, preferably in March or May. Bearing in mind the encouraging response provided by the WTO Director-General, it was considered politically important to hold the session on WTO premises. Another option - albeit less desirable- would be to hold the session at another venue in Geneva, such as the CICG or the United Nations. The Secretariats of the IPU and the European Parliament were mandated to study their respective calendars and identify a few mutually acceptable dates in 2011 that would be transmitted to the WTO without delay.
9. As soon as the dates and venue of the annual 2011 session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO are confirmed, members of the Steering Committee would be advised of this decision by e-mail and other electronic means. A similar method would be used for consultations about the session's theme and other substantive aspects. The idea was to avoid the Steering Committee having to reconvene again in just a few months, it being understood that most consultations can be carried out electronically, through the Secretariats of the IPU and the European Parliament. The next meeting of the Steering Committee would therefore take place on the eve of next year's plenary session, with the Steering Committee doubling as a drafting committee.
10. It was agreed that the overall format of the 2011 session would be modelled on that of the last session, held in September 2008. Subject to possible readjustments, it would include an inaugural ceremony, a debate on two or three substantive themes, two panel discussions, a hearing with the WTO Director-General, and an interactive event with the participation of leading WTO negotiators. At the end of its deliberations, the session would be expected to adopt an outcome document.
11. With regard to the session's debate themes and the subjects of the interactive panels, members of the Committee recommended that consideration be given inter alia to such topics as: technological innovation as a factor shaping the future of world trade; the role of geopolitics in rebalancing the rules of international trade; the image of trade as projected by the media; trade as a means of addressing social issues; international trade as a hostage of domestic politics; trade as an attenuating factor during global economic disturbances; the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade agreements; trade-related aspects of climate change; and strengthening the parliamentary dimension of the WTO.
12. When actual preparations for the annual 2011 session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO start, the members of the Steering Committee will be invited to submit candidatures of rapporteurs, panellists and discussants from among members of the Steering Committee and other parliamentarians, as well as internationally renowned experts. As in the past, the rapporteurs will be expected to prepare discussion papers (in English, French or Spanish, five pages maximum) for circulation to all parliaments ahead of the session. The Secretariats of the IPU and the European Parliament were mandated to ensure a balanced composition of the panels in terms of geographical and gender representation.
13. Preparation of the draft outcome document of the annual session will be carried out under the responsibility of a rapporteur, to be selected from among the members of the Steering Committee through consultation between the IPU and the European Parliament as the Conference co-organizers. Assisted by the Conference Secretariat, the rapporteur will be expected to prepare a preliminary draft of the outcome document, to be shared via e-mail with all members of the Steering Committee.
14. A revised version of the preliminary draft, taking stock of comments and suggestions by the Steering Committee members, will then be circulated to all parliaments for possible amendments. The Steering Committee will meet on the eve of the plenary session to consider these amendments and prepare a draft outcome document, to be distributed to all participants at the start of the Conference for last-minute amendments. The final draft will be presented to the Conference as a whole for adoption at its concluding plenary.
15. Speaking under the "miscellaneous" item of the Committee's agenda, the representative of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) evoked the numerous activities carried out by the Association in the domain of international trade, including the publication of parliamentary guidebooks tailored to the needs of specific geographic regions. The CPA Secretariat would be pleased to provide copies of these publications on demand. Annex
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS LISTE DES PARTICIPANTS
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