Övrigt INTA - Kategoriarkiv

Stockholm 28th of October

Dear Baroness Ashton,

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment as trade commissioner. I am very much looking forward to working closely with you to promote free trade during your term.

During our brief encounter in the European Parliament on the 20th of October I asked you about an issue that is of great importance to Sweden, as well as a number of other EU countries, namely export tariffs on Russian timber. I was very happy to hear that you were going to look further into the issue. But since time was limited, and little time is available to find a solution to this urgent problem, I wanted to take this opportunity to further inform you and follow up our discussion.

Despite EU´s efforts to negotiate with Russia the situation has gone from bad to worse. When Russia first introduced the export tariffs, on the 1st of June 2007, they where 10 € per cubic, on the 1st of April 2008 they were raised to 15 € per cubic. And if we do not manage to get an agreement with Russia at the next EU-Russia summit, tariffs will be raised a further 230 percent to 50 € per cubic by the end of this year. This will literally mean a complete stop of export of timber from Russia.

These export tariffs on timber are not only in contradiction with the spirit of a future WTO membership for Russia. They represent also a direct breach of the 2004 agreement that was reached between the EU and Russia to facilitate Russia’s accession to the WTO.

Moreover, the impact of Russia’s tariffs on Europe’s forest industry is already prevalent and the consequences of the planned duty hikes will be no less than dire. In Sweden alone the forestry sector employs 90 000 people and it is estimated that at least 6 000 people in the industry will immediately lose their jobs in case Russia goes ahead with its tariff increases on 1 January 2009. In the medium term, the unemployment effect of the measures will probably be many times higher as the effects trickle down on jobs in downstream industries and services sectors in the most affected areas, which are often remote and have a shortage of other employment opportunities. It is also noteworthy that these significant negative effects are likely to hit hardest those otherwise most competitive EU companies that have – as suggested in Global Europe – embraced a corporate strategy of open trade and global sourcing.

For all the abovementioned reasons, I believe that decisive and urgent action to address these consequences is a litmus test for EU’s long-term strategy in support of openness, as well as for Russia’s level of commitment to its WTO Accession and to closer future economic relations with the EU. 

I would therefore like to ask you, Baroness Asthon, what your plan of action is for the EU-Russia summit to ensure that Russia urgently, and no later than by the end of 2008, scraps its planned increased export duties and bring any export duties on wood in line with its obligations already agreed upon in the 2004 agreement.

I would also be very happy to meet with you to further discuss this issue at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerly