EU offers proposals to strengthen WTO rules

Bloomberg

The European Union (EU) outlined ways to bolster the World Trade Organization (WTO) in a bid to keep US President Donald Trump committed to the global commercial order that America helped shape after World War II.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom presented a ‘concept paper’ aimed at strengthening WTO rules against trade-distorting subsidies, averting a deadlock in the dispute-settlement system of the organisation and enhancing its monitoring role. The bloc plans to share the ideas with trade partners at a September 20 meeting in Geneva being organised by Canada.
“Despite its success, the WTO has not been able to adapt sufficiently to the rapidly changing global economy,” Malmstrom said in an emailed statement in Brussels on Tuesday. “The world has changed, the WTO has not. It’s high time to act to make the system able to address challenges of today’s global economy.”