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22 October 2008 by Jean-Eric Holzapfel Chargé d’Affaires a.i.

The Role of the EC Delegation in Minsk – the Relevance for Business. 22 October 2008 by Jean-Eric Holzapfel Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Delegation of the European Commission Belarus, Minsk. The role of the EC Delegation to Belarus. 1. Introduction 2. EU projects

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22 October 2008 by Jean-Eric Holzapfel Chargé d’Affaires a.i.

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  1. The Role of the EC Delegation in Minsk – the Relevance for Business 22 October 2008 by Jean-Eric Holzapfel Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Delegation of the European Commission Belarus, Minsk

  2. The role of the EC Delegation to Belarus • 1. Introduction • 2. EU projects • 3. Support to policies – normalisation and standardisation • Trade • Investment • Case of Ukraine

  3. Introduction • Present cooperation with Belarus is limited • Belarus is not a full participant of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) • Partnership and Cooperation negotiated, but its conclusion and ratification as well as the Interim Agreement were frozen since 1997 • EU is interested in developing closer relations with Belarus, based on the shared values • EC’s document, November 2006 “ What the EU can bring to Belarus ” • EU welcomes positive developments in Belarus and is ready to develop cooperation On 7 March 2008 the European Commission and Belarus signed an agreement establishing the Delegation of the European Commission in the country

  4. 2. Projects • Projects which concern enterprises • EU Enlargement and foreign direct investments in border regions to the NIS; (promoting cross-border area with special regards to attracting foreign direct investments and to supporting the local SMEs (AP 2003; € 282, 943) • East Invest. Strengthening the SME cooperation in the ENPI Eastern region, 7 M €. Future regional programme in the field of investment promotion and of SME cooperation (* in preparation) • INOGATE projects (Interstate Oil and Gas Transport to Europe. International: cooperation programme funded mainly under the Tacis regional cooperation) • Projects in which enterprises can take part • EU is active in many domains. For detailed information see EC Delegation to Belarus website: http://www.delblr.ec.europa.eu

  5. 3. Policies • Support to Policies • Study to analyse the enterprise regulatory environment and regulations in the field of standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment in the Republic of Belarus and their alignment with EU and international regulatory and administrative practices, providing concrete advice and recommendations on achieving alignment with EU Internal Market standards • Support to Belarus in the field of norms and standardisation (* in preparation) • Expert level talks (energy, environment, transport, customs/borders) • TAIEX (Technical assistance and information exchange instrument)

  6. 4. Trade EU Belarus-Trade • EU is the first export partner of Belarus • In 2007 the EU imported 4,321 million € (4,3 billion €) from Belarus and exported to Belarus 4,832 million €; In 2003 figures were respectively 2,015 and 2,210. Out of 4,321 of imports in the EU, 2,444 concerned mineral products • In 2007: The EU accounted for 44.0 percent of Belarus' exports, whereas Russia accounted for 36.6 percent. 60.1 percent of imports came from Russia and 21.9 from the EU

  7. Online Visit http://exporthelp.europa.eu 4. Trade Access to EU Markets Sector Cooperation EU-Belarus for access to EU markets Example for milk products: are authorised imports in the EU of Belarusian dairy products for human consumption which have undergone treatment according to the related Commission decision Export Helpdesk The Helpdesk helps exporters find potential markets within the EU Textiles Belarus and EU are now negotiating the extension of the present textiles agreement

  8. 4. Trade General System of Preferences (GSP) Atrade and development tool of the EU designed to grant tariff preferences to developing countries and economies in transition provided that certain conditions are fulfilled, and the respect of core labour rights is one of them This is an autonomous and unilateral preference and not a right for beneficiary countries. GSP may be temporarily withdrawn if ILO Conventions violation takes place The suspension implies higher EU import tariffs on Belarusian minerals, textiles, clothes and wood products worth around €390 million a year, i.e. 11% of total EU-Belarus trade

  9. 5. Investment • Micro-lending: support to EBRD programme (400, 000 € from Tacis - EU/EBRD's Investment Preparation Facility) • The Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) • The Facility is intended to provide grant support for lending operations by EIB, EBRD other European multilateral development-finance institutions (such as the Nordic Investment Bank or, for the Social Sector, the Council of Europe Development Bank) and the bilateral development-finance institutions of the Member States that contribute to the Facility • Other development-finance institutions may also benefit from the funds as junior partners in a consortium led by the above-mentioned institutions. In specific and duly justified cases (e.g. projects of cross border or regional nature to which the Union attaches particular interest) extending eligibility to other countries covered by the ENPI will be considered

  10. 6. Case of Ukraine • Important cooperation • EU-Ukraine action plan within the ENP • Negotiations on a new enhanced agreement on trade (NEA) • GSP • WTO access • Investment facility • EIB • Creation of the European Business Association in the late 90's

  11. THANK YOU! European Commission Delegation to Belarus Engels street 34A 220030 Minsk, Belarus Tel.: +375 17 206 66 13 Fax: +375 17 289 12 81 Email: delegation-belarus@ec.europa.eu URL: http://www.delblr.ec.europa.eu

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