By Benjamin Fox, 

 

NAIROBI, 24 Feb. - (ANA) - EU trade ministers are set to push for reform of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) core trade rules at a summit in March following a two-day gathering in Nicosia, which concluded on Friday (20 February). 

 

“The WTO remains the backbone of a predictable, rules-based global economy, but it needs renewal,” Cypriot commerce and industry minister, Michael Damianos, had said ahead of the trade ministers’ meeting. 

 

Also high on the agenda were the EU’s difficult trade relations with China, and a discussion of the state of play of a handful of bilateral trade negotiations.

 

The EU Commission concluded a draft trade and defence agreement with India last month, and says that rapid progress has been made in talks with Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand. 

 

Specifically, the bloc is set to push for reforms to the WTO’s most favoured nation principle (MFN) at a March WTO summit in Cameroon — a demand that is also being advanced by the US administration. 

 

Earlier this month, EU trade commissioner Maroš Šef?ovi? stated that “access to lower tariffs cannot be unconditional: it must be earned through stronger, credible commitments to the core principles of free and fair trade.” 

 

The EU has found itself sandwiched between China and the United States over the past year, with Beijing and Washington using a variety of non-tariff and tariff barriers as leverage to reform their trade with Europe.  

 

Brussels has been embroiled for several years in a multi-sector trade dispute with China over what it says are Beijing’s subsidies and excess production in the electric vehicle and steel industries, as well as discrimination in exports of rare earths and in the procurement sector. 

 

 

 

 

WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has indicated that she is prepared for MFN reform to be on the table in Cameroon, telling reporters in Geneva last week that “the status quo is not enough.” 

 

“One should never be afraid to engage on the issues of the day, including foundational principles, especially at a time when you’re trying to in a world of uncertainty and geopolitics, you should have a conversation,” she said. 

 

Both the US and EU are now questioning the viability of the most favoured nation principle, which requires equal treatment in trade terms between countries.  

 

Meanwhile, Šef?ovi? told reporters at the start of the Nicosia meeting that the EU should be ready to apply the controversial Mercosur trade deal with the six-member South American trade bloc, paving the way for it to enter into force provisionally, pending ratification by the European Parliament. 

 

“When our Mercosur partners will be ready with the ratification, we should be ready as well,” Sefcovic told reporters before a meeting of EU trade ministers in Cyprus. 

 

He added that Argentina is expected to be the first country to ratify the trade deal, which the EU Commission says will save European businesses €4bn per year in customs duties alone.  

 

A majority of EU trade ministers have backed calls for the trade pact to be provisionally applied, but such a move would have opponents in the parliament which last month referred the Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice for a legal opinion.

 

The agreement with Mercosur has been bitterly opposed by the European farming lobby, which argues that products such as beef and soy are made using banned pesticides and lower phytosanitary standards than those of EU farmers.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/24 February 2026 - - -