Cerame-Unie attended the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) stakeholder meeting with DG ENVI and DG Trade on 3 June. The Green Goods Initiative aims to liberalise tariff lines on “green goods” and reduce tariffs to 5% or less among 17 participating countries.

Trade Commissioner Malmström and Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Cañete met with the business stakeholders to exchange on how to promote the environmental objectives of the European Union through trade. Commissioner Cañete stressed that EGA could increase market uptake of green technologies and promote EU environmental technical solutions. Malmström announced that the EU aimed first at expanding the list of goods and second at addressing non-tariff barriers as well as government procurement and services. While the deal should be a living agreement, products should be environmentally credible and a revision mechanism should be clearly defined.

In addition, the CU Trade Working Group discussed this topic with DG Trade on 7 May. The CU Secretariat remains in bilateral contact with DG Trade on EGA.