EU to adopt tough stance with its 10-year trade strategy

Brussels: The European Union has set out its trade agenda for the coming 10 years promising to act against any country that denies it access to scarce raw materials or energy resources it needs for growth. The targets set out in the draft document, which has been leaked to the media, can easily ratchet up tension with China and Russia both of which are primary suppliers of rare earth materials and oil and gas to the EU.

EU's 2020 trade strategy will be spelled out next month by its trade chief Karel De Gucht.

As per the policy goals laid out in the 21-page document, the EU will use legal and political muscle not just to ensure access to raw materials but also to dismantle market barriers which could obstruct the effort of its industries to globalise.

Amongst other items, the draft also says that the EU will try and settle global trade rules at the World Trade Organization by the end of 2011; try and enhance trade in services and environmental technology; develop its high-tech sectors; pursue counterfeiters and close free-trade deals with countries covering half the EU's external trade.

"We need to seize the opportunity for higher levels of growth abroad, especially in south and east Asia," says the 21-page document.

The draft says the EU will turn its attention to restrictions on exports of raw materials and state subsidies by countries such as Russia and China by initiating legal action at the World Trade Organization.