- On 26/06, Entreprise Europe Brussels, Enterprise Europe Network Flanders and Wallonia, together with DG Trade and in the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, organised a Market Access Day (MAD). The aim of this MAD is to inform exporters about the opportunities and challenges of the various EU trade agreements.
- 200 Belgian exporters and federations participated to this event.
- In parallel with the public programme, Chief Trade Enforcement Officer Denis Redonnet met with companies, federations, representatives of the regions and Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 26/06, Enterprise Europe Brussels, Enterprise Europe Network Flanders and Wallonia, together with DG Trade and in the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, organised a Market Access Day (MAD).
These Market Access Days have been organised for several years in the different Member States in cooperation with DG Trade. The aim is to inform businesses and economic operators about the opportunities and challenges of the various EU trade agreements with third countries, as well as to familiarise them with the supporting tools such as the Access2Markets platform. An important element of this day is the presence of the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer (CTEO) and Deputy DG of DG Trade Denis Redonnet, whose function was created in 2020 to improve the implementation of trade agreements and protect the open European market from unfair trade practices. The CTEO uses these Market Access Days to meet local companies and authorities and to listen to their main concerns regarding exports to 3rd countries.
This 16th edition was the first MAD to take place in Belgium and with 200 participating Belgian exporters and federations, it was also the largest MAD to date. This success was due to a good cooperation between the various Belgian Enterprise Europe Network partners of FIT, VLAIO, AWEX, hub.brussels and BECI, who had decided to join forces in the framework of the Belgian Presidency and with the support of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The agenda of this Market Access Day was divided into a public part and a parallel programme for CTEO Denis Redonnet.
The public part was opened by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed by a keynote speech by CTEO Denis Redonnet. Subsequently, several workshops and panels were on the programme:
- A workshop by DG Trade on the different tools available to support exporters, such as Access2Markets, the Single Entry Point, Rules of Origin Self-Assessment (ROSA), public procurement and the Trade Defense Instruments.
- A panel on the benefits of the free trade agreements with Canada, Korea and Japan, based on testimonies from Belgian SMEs exporting to these countries.
- A panel presenting the newly entered into free trade agreement with New Zealand, by the Ambassador of New Zealand to the EU, Simon Draper, on the one hand, and the chief negotiator of this agreement on the EU side, Peter Berz, on the other.
In parallel, the CTEO programme started with a VIP lunch with some 20 selected companies and federations, followed by a bilateral meeting between the CTEO and representatives of the regions and finally a bilateral meeting between the CTEO and the representative of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During these discussions, the following topics were discussed:
- challenges related to the ratification of trade agreements and the need for a more positive political narrative,
- China, USA,
- Mercosur (advocacy of the federations for fact checking to rectify the debate) and agriculture (the challenges are related to the Green Deal and PAC, not to FTAs),
- balance between offensive and defensive interests (e.g. in the context of the use of defensive measures such as anti-dumping affecting other companies),
- trends for the future of trade policy (including competitiveness and economic security),
- impact and implementation of the Autonomous Instruments (GreenDeal, due diligence) on companies,
- importance of more data and efforts on services and digital trade (too much focus on goods but DG Trade acknowledges that they receive little input on the other domains),
- possible Europeanisation of the approach to trade barriers,
- additional problems with the UK checks of food products,
SMEs willing to develop international trade (export and import) with 3rd countries can contact Enterprise Europe Brussels for dedicated support, information and advice on access to markets, benefit from free trade agreements, partnering with local companies.
Source: Report of the MAD from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Trade
