Go back

2014 EuDA Annual General Meeting Conference, at Stanhope Hotel Brussels’Breaking Trade Barriers Around The World’Special focus on the World Dredging Markets

Date

13 November 2014

Place

Stanhope Hotel Brussels

Trade in History
Trade is an essential part of human activities since prehistoric times. With the exchanges of products, services and knowledge inherent to its nature, trade contributed to economic as well as to scientific and cultural development of the human societies around the world and helped them transform into today’s globalised human society.

Trade and Transport
Trade development is inseparable from transport. Transport technology and infrastructures helped establish, maintain and develop the trade flows. Thanks to international shipping, the links between the trade network nodes have been further multiplied and expanded from local, to regional, to international and now global with the port networks connecting their multimodal logistics chains.

Trade vs local Industries
Along with the trade routes, systems and measures were quickly invented to capture some of the wealth and opportunities of the passing merchants. Not long after trade started, Trade Barriers were also raised to protect the local industries from foreign competition. However, the protection of local industries produces in the long term negative side effects that can overall counterbalance the initial short term benefits.

Trade Barriers to Dredging
In the worldwide dredging markets, many types of Trade Barriers have been put in place to restrict or to exclude foreign competition. At best, European Dredgers are prevented from delivering the full extent of their added value and, at worst, they are prevented from accessing closed markets.

Trade Barriers & Countermeasures
With the development of trade, Trade Barriers were further refined and, along with the tariff and non-tariff barriers, came their antidotes with the ‘panacea’ being the free trade agreements. Following the recent failure of the ‘multilateral’ negotiations of the WTO Doha Round, the direct ‘bilateral’ Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) between economic zones have been reactivated.

Breaking Trade Barriers around the World
The EuDA Conference opened with an overview of Trade Barriers around the world and look into the way trade negotiations can manage to lift some of them with the recent example of Canada and US. The Conference concluded on the possible ways forward for the European Dredgers.

For the Conference detailed programme: click here.

For the Conference Participants’ List: click here.

For the speakers’ presentations see below:

Opening Address

  • Mr Marc Stordiau
    EuDA Chairman

Moderation:

  • Mr Paris Sansoglou
    EuDA Secretary General, moderating the conference.

Speakers:

  • Mrs Luisa Santos
    BUSINESSEUROPE Director of the Department for International Relations
    presenting “Overview of the main Trade Barriers around the World”.
  • Marco Düerkop
    European Commission, DG TRADE Deputy Head of Unit for Trade in Services, Lead TTIP Negotiator for Services
    presenting “EU Trade Negotiations with Canada and USA”.
  • Mr Andrew Durant
    SAMUELS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATES Managing Director
    presenting “Possible ways for European Dredgers to enter the US Market”.

For the Conference key messages: click here.