Tal
Handelshögskolan i Stockholm 8 februari 2007
Sten Tolgfors, Handelsminister

Anförande av handelsminister Sten Tolgfors i samband med besök av EU-kommissionär Peter Mandelson

I am very honoured and pleased to welcome Peter Mandelson, the EU Commissioner for External Trade. I appreciated our previous meeting. Peter Mandelson is a key player in international trade. I am also very happy to be given the opportunity to speak here, at the Stockholm School of Economics, one of Sweden's most prominent educational institutions and a solid bastion for free trade.

Globalisation

The world of today is interlinked. Information, ideas, capital and people travel across borders at an unprecedented pace. This is something good that adds to prosperity and freedom.

The only way to respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation is through openness. Competition at home fosters companies that are competitive abroad. I am glad that that is the choice the EU has made.

As Minister for Trade, my commitment is to ensure a healthy domestic business climate, a well-functioning internal EU market and open trade with the world outside the EU.

Globalisation requires sound domestic policies and dismantling of trade barriers. This is key to sustain domestic growth and employment. Growth and jobs are at the heart of Swedish government policy.

Today, I will focus on two processes that are central to Sweden, and to the EU as a whole: Global Europe and the Doha Round in the WTO.

Global Europe

Let me start with Global Europe.

Sweden has for some years argued that openness to the rest of the world is not a threat but an opportunity, even a necessity, for Europe's own competitiveness. We were therefore very satisfied when the Commission last year presented its strategy "Global Europe" and clearly stated that economic openness is vital to jobs and growth within Europe itself.

"Global Europe" aims at creating a competitive, open, single market that will ensure European competitiveness abroad.

Another important component is to open foreign markets to EU exports. This does not only entail new trade agreements with partners (mainly in Asia), but also strategies to ensure that European companies do not face infringements of their intellectual property rights or other restrictions when investing abroad. Sweden strongly supports the commercial focus: new trade agreements should be of central interest to our companies.

To the Swedish Government, the commitment to the multilateral system of the WTO and the clear rejection of European protectionism are cornerstones of Global Europe.

The Doha Round in the WTO

Swedish economy is built upon international trade. This has been the case for hundreds of years. Exports and imports together correspond to about 90 per cent of GDP. Many of our companies are international and know no borders. Two-thirds of Swedish exports go to the EU internal market, but more than 30 per cent is destined for markets outside the EU.

Therefore, the World Trade Organisation is the foremost forum to negotiate rules that provide stability and predictability to the global economy. An ambitious result in the ongoing Doha Round is Sweden's single most important trade priority.

Crucial to our industry are lower tariffs for trade in industrial goods (78 per cent of total export value comes from manufactures) and increased market access for trade in services (20 per cent of total export value comes from services, but 70 per cent of the economy, great future trade potential). Removing complicated and bureaucratic customs procedures, i.e. trade facilitation, is also central.

A strong, rules-based multilateral system is the best vaccine against protectionism. This is important, especially in times when the centre of economic gravity is shifting rapidly. Today, countries in Asia are growing at more than 10 per cent per year and millions of people are being lifted out of poverty. China, India, Brazil are on everybody's lips. This provides our consumers and our companies with great opportunities. Through the WTO we can ensure that trade with these countries is facilitated, to the benefit of both them and us.

The negotiations in the Doha Round are complicated. We are dealing with hard and politically sensitive issues. It is a huge exercise of give and take, spreading the political pain and the economic gain and across the WTO membership.

There is a lot on the table. More than in previous rounds. Agriculture is the sticking point to solve in the negotiations. The EU, I must say, has been very constructive and offered to substantially lower both agriculture subsidies and tariffs. And this is necessary, to accommodate the needs of developing countries, which are often dependent on agriculture exports.

Conclusion

Global Europe and the negotiations in the WTO are two important processes to better equip the EU to take on the challenges of globalisation. But it requires political courage and leadership to undertake necessary decisions and reforms.

Within the European Union, Sweden is a modern voice for free trade and openness. We push for a Europe that is outward-looking, open and competitive. A Europe that embraces globalisation and refuses to resort to protectionism.

To conclude, Sweden truly appreciates the close and fruitful collaboration we enjoy with the European Commission in the trade field. With these words, I am very proud to introduce Peter Mandelson. The floor is yours.