Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Implementation and Enforcement of EU Trade Agreements

Book excerpt: This is the Commission's first consolidated report on trade implementation and enforcement actions. It follows the appointment of the first Chief Trade Enforcement Officer in the Commission on 24 July 2020, to oversee and direct the effective implementation and enforcement of EU trade agreements and arrangements, with an explicit mandate to report to the European Parliament as well as to the Council of the European Union and the public. This report, which will be published annually, is the main instrument for doing so. The report consolidates the former yearly report on the implementation of EU trade agreements and its staff working document, as well as the former yearly trade and investment barriers report, into one. It contains information on activities undertaken by the Commission in partnership with Member States under the strategy to improve market access and help SMEs make the most of EU trade agreements, and demonstrates how the Commission works with civil society. It also reports on trade enforcement actions taken by the Commission under the dispute settlement mechanisms of the World Trade Organization (WTO), under bilateral trade agreements and under the EU's Trade Barriers Regulation. Finally, the report provides statistical data on trade and investment for the 37 main EU trade agreements from 2020 (on goods) and 2019 (on services) and covers significant developments up to the end of the second quarter of 2021. As the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement only entered into force on 1 May 2021 (provisionally applied as of 1 January), it will be covered by the 2022 edition of this report.