Europump Supports Joint Industry Statement on European Trade Agreements

Europump, the influential body which represents 16 national pump associations in 12 EU Member States, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK has recently lent its considerable support to an important industry statement relating to European Trade Agreements.

The focus of the EU 2021 trade policy review was to create an open and assertive trade policy. Since then, several proposals aimed at creating a level playing field have been put forward and updated, but progress has been somewhat limited. The co-signatories of the joint statement wanted to stress the importance of openness, particularly regarding the bilateral Free Trade Agreements agenda. The Covid-19 crisis has clearly demonstrated that, at times of uncertainty, the ability to import and export is critical for their collective resilience.

Supporting open, free, and fair international trade means supporting European businesses, European jobs and European prosperity as the economy recovers from the Covid-19 crisis. It means securing the most diversified and high-quality choice of goods and services for European citizens. And, by ensuring a level playing field for businesses, it helps maintain the competitiveness of European industry, both for SMEs and larger companies.

In this context, Europump, along with 23 other Trade Associations, presented two key recommendations. The first presses the EU to ensure that Free Trade Agreements enter into force as soon as possible and the second urges an expansive EU bilateral trade agenda, to support competitiveness at an international level. The full statement can be reviewed via this PDF download on the Europump website - bit.ly/3K34LmA – which has been issued to the European Commission.

In summary, the parties welcome the Commission’s support in giving full appreciation to the benefits that Europe, its companies, and its citizens will gain from an expeditious and expansive EU bilateral trade agenda.