That is why I consider the priority for an initiative to be taken on the part of the European Union for a major ambitious democratic reform of the World Trade Organisation to be of strategic importance, just as I consider the need for the European Union to submit an integrated strategic trade policy for the development of bilateral and regional trade relations to be of strategic importance.

Under the proposed EPAs the trade relationship between the EU and the different ACP regional groups will be reciprocal; EPAs will therefore be governed by GATT Article XXIV rather than its “enabling clause”.

In the revised Sustainable Development Strategy[5], the Commission called “ on the business leaders and other key stakeholders of Europe to engage in urgent reflection with political leaders on the medium- and long-term policies needed for sustainability and propose ambitious business responses which go beyond existing minimum legal requirements ”.

Key Actions: The Commission: Calls on the business leaders and other key stakeholders of Europe to engage in urgent reflection with political leaders on the medium- and long-term policies needed for sustainability and propose ambitious business responses which go beyond existing minimum legal requirements.

Resources directed to research and development (RD) and innovation both at national and EU-level are one of the key elements in strengthening the level of information and network security of new systems, applications and services; efforts at the EU level should be reinforced in the fields of security-related research and innovation, in particular through the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) and the Framework Programme on Competitiveness and Innovation (CIP); efforts should also be directed towards measures to disseminate and encourage the commercial exploitation of the consequ ...[+++]ential results, including the evaluation of their usefulness for the wider community; this will enhance the ability of European suppliers to provide security solutions that will meet the specific needs of the European market;

With a view to injecting a new dynamism into regional trade and investment relations, the Commission proposes a trade action plan, the Trans-Regional EU-ASEAN Trade Initiative (TREATI), which is set out in Annex II. This initiative paves the way for a possible free-trade agreement that should only come after the conclusion of the Doha Development Round and be subject to sufficient progress on regulatory convergence.