IP/04/416

Brussels, 30 March 2004

Pascal Lamy in Baltic countries to discuss trade implications of enlargement

EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will travel successively to Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn between 31 March and 1 April to discuss with the governments, business and civil societies, the trade implications of the upcoming accession of the three countries to the EU. He will end the trip with a visit to to Finland on 2 April. On the eve of his departure Pascal Lamy said: ‘When I arrive in Vilnius we will have exactly 30 days to go before enlargement and I want to make sure that we are all ready for this historical event. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are already members of the EU trade family and I wish to review with the governments, business and civil societies of the three countries the ways to promote our common interests together in all aspects of our trade policy.”

In Lithuania on 31 March Mr. Lamy will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs Valionis, Minister of Economy Čėsna, and Chairman of the Parliament Paulauskas, to go over the implications for Lithuania of acceding to the European Union as far as trade is concerned. Mr. Lamy will also have the opportunity to meet Mrs. Grybauskaitė, Lithuanian Commissioner designate and current Minister of Finance. Pascal Lamy will then travel to Latvia, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Emsis, Minister of Economics Lujāns, and Minister of Finance Spurdziņš. Finally, he will reach Tallinn on 1 April in the afternoon, where he will have bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Parts, Foreign Minister Ojuland, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Atonen, and finally the Estonian Commissioner-Designate, Mr. Kallas. A large part of his visits will be devoted to reaching out to the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian business communities in order to exchange views on trade and enlargement in general, and in in particular issues such as the extension of the EU- Russia Partnership and Co-operation agreement to the 10 new Member States as from the 1 of May. It will also be an opportunity to exchange views on the on-going talks under the WTO Doha Development Agenda. During his meetings, Pascal Lamy will underline that accession will not have a “big bang” effect on the business communities in the three countries: enlargement has already effectively taken place in terms of opening trade between the EU and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, resulting from the Europe Agreements between the EU and candidate countries. Moreover, joining a 25 member club will give a stronger leverage to the three countries’ business communities on the world scene. The EU and the three Baltic states are also fully in line when it comes to the basic understanding on the objectives of the EU trade policy, both regionally and in the WTO.

In Finland Pascal Lamy will meet with the Prime Minister Mr Matti Vanhanen, with the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Mrs Lehtomäki as well as with representatives of the Finish Parliament, business and civil society.

Background Since April 2003 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as all other accession countries, already participate in the definition of the EU’s trade policy. In 2002 Estonia ranked 7th on trade with the EU among acceding countries and second among the three Baltic states. The EU accounts for 56% of Estonia’s total external trade. Bilateral trade with Estonia consists of machinery, agricultural products, transport equipment, chemical products and textiles and clothing. In 2002, the EU imported goods worth € 3 billion and exported goods for € 3.5 billion, with a resulting trade surplus of approximately € 0.5 billion. The EU accounts for 55% of Latvia’s external trade. Latvia ranks 8th among acceding countries and is the EU’s smallest trading partner among the three Baltic states. Bilateral trade consists mainly of agricultural products, power-generating machinery, energy and textiles. In 2002, the EU imported goods worth € 1.9 billion and exported goods for € 2.6 billion, with a resulting trade surplus of approximately € 0.6 billion. In 2002 Lithuania ranked 6th among acceding countries and first among the three Baltic states. The EU accounts for almost 50% of Lithuania’s external trade, making it Lithuania’s first trading partner. Bilateral trade is mainly made of textiles, transport material, chemical products, energy and machinery. In 2002, EU imports amounted to € 2.7 billion and exports to € 4 billion, with a resulting trade surplus of € 1.3 billion. For more information: http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/issues/bilateral/regions/candidates/index_en.htm

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