Towards the end of 2006, the ex EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, launched a Green Paper exercise on the reform of the Community’s Trade Defence Instruments (TDIs). At the start of 2008, this process was pulled following pressure from protectionist elements. The Commission has not returned to the reform since that date (save for some improvements to transparency), and there is a danger that the more substantial improvements that were proposed will fail to see the light of day. In this article, I look back at the proposals I put forward at the time and see what still needs to be, and what can be, done.
Global Trade and Customs Journal