EU seeks to widen market access to counter trade restrictions, Germany's Merz says  

EU Accelerates Market Access Efforts to Counter Global Trade Restrictions

EU's Strategic Moves in Global Trade Partnerships

SINGAPORE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that the European Union is seeking to collaborate more deeply on open market access to counter restrictions on global trade, including with Southeast Asia and members of the CPTPP trade pact.    

EU's Approach to Open Markets

The world is changing and the EU, with 450 million consumers, has become more active in seeking and building on partnerships to expand free trade with open competition, reliability and a rules-based order, Merz said during a visit to Singapore. 

Countering Current Trade Restrictions

• "This is a deliberate counterpoint to what we are currently seeing ... we want to do things differently and we want to show that there is a better way," Merz told a press conference

The Role of CPTPP and ASEAN in EU Trade Strategy

Understanding the CPTPP

• The Progressive ​Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, is a trade agreement comprising 12 countries, including Japan, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia

ASEAN-EU Free Trade Initiatives

• Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said his country, when it becomes chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc in 2027, will push to make progress on an ASEAN-EU free trade deal

Ongoing Bilateral FTAs and Negotiations

• The EU has bilateral FTAs with several ASEAN countries and negotiations are ongoing with other ASEAN members

Challenges and Confidence in ASEAN-EU Agreement

• "We recognise that it will be challenging. It's complex, but we can also have some confidence in moving forward," Wong said about the ASEAN-EU agreement

Coordinating Trade Frameworks and Regional Cooperation

• Merz said he has called on the EU to better coordinate its existing bilateral trade frameworks with partners like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India to "open up better opportunities for us and our businesses in the region"

• He also said the EU would be willing to get involved in an ASEAN initiative to integrate its power grids and cooperate more on defence and security

Reporting Credits

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Xinghui Kok; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by David Stanway)