– having regard to the informal meetings of the Trade Negotiations Committee on 31 May 2011, 22 June 2011 and 26 July 2011, as well as the documents by the negotiating chairs presented on 21 April 2011,

D. whereas there were advances in the negotiations at the beginning of 2011, as reflected in the reports of the negotiating chairs presented on 21 April 2011, but through the same reports it also became apparent that it will be very difficult to reach an agreement during 2011, as previously discussed in the Trade Negotiations Committee;

Urges the Commission to ensure that the specific needs and interests of SMEs are reflected in all trade negotiations; observes that this would imply identifying the areas of negotiations where problems affect SMEs more than other categories of businesses, and focusing on them in the process of negotiating commercial agreements with third countries; supports a reform of the multilateral framework for involving SMEs at the WTO and for ensuring faster arbitration and settlement of disputes for SMEs;

Considers it unacceptable that the Commission resumed negotiations with Mercosur without making publicly available a detailed impact assessment and without engaging in a proper political debate with the Council and Parliament; calls for a study into the impact of these negotiations on European agricultural sectors and regions to be produced and discussed before any tariff proposals are exchanged between the EU and Mercosur; points out that, given the agricultural implications of the negotiations, a link with the Doha Round must necessarily be established; calls accordingly on the Commission not to conclude the negotiations with Mercos ...[+++]ur until the WTO round has been brought to a close, as stipulated in its mandate; calls on the Commission to keep the Council and Parliament duly informed of developments in the negotiations with Mercosur and in future to inform Council and Parliament before such trade negotiations commence;

- aim to make significant progress with ongoing bilateral trade negotiations, launch new trade negotiations with ASEAN countries and propose self-standing investment negotiations with key partners;

In the context of trade negotiations, the Commission has launched a Sustainability Impact Assessment of the proposed New round WTO negotiations, and committed itself to undertaking SIAs of other trade negotiations such as the ongoing EU-Chile/Mercosur negotiations.