Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić 27 May 2019 in Brussels attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade).
The main items on the agenda were modernization of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the EU-US trade relations.
Ministers expressed concern over the challenges facing the WTO and supported the EU’s leading role in preserving the values of a multilateral trade system. In her address, Pejčinović Burić underlined Croatia’s full support for a multilateral trade system as well as all efforts aimed at maintaining and improving the existing system in order to adapt to the challenges of international trade.
The Council also discussed the EU-US trade relations and the need to maintain the dialogue between the transatlantic partners so as to ease the tensions caused by protectionist measures, which negatively impact the global trade flows.
In regard to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement, ministers discussed this important step forward towards the Asian economic area. European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström informed the ministers about the status of the ongoing trade negotiations, in particular with Mercosur, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Indonesia.