The European Union and the WTO Post-Bali Work Programme

The  World  Trade Organisation (WTO)’s 9th Ministerial Conference  (MC9)  took place in Bali, Indonesia from 3rd to 7th December 2013. Widely believed  to be a decisive moment both for the future  of  the WTO  and  for  the  flailing  Doha  Development  Agenda, the  fraught  five-day long negotiations were to culminate in the first global trade deal to be agreed  in the eighteen  year history  of  the  WTO, resulting  in what  will be an estimated  $1 trillion injection into  the  global economy.  Also  agreed  at  MC9  was  the  decision  that  the WTO’s Trade Negotiations Committee would prepare a “clearly defined” work programme over the next 12 months in order to address the remaining Doha Development Agenda issues.  Bali thus signified an important moment in placing the impetus for negotiation back onto the ‘Doha Round’ after a long period of impasse. In this briefing discussion is thus given to the post-Bali Work Programme and what a return to the broader  Doha  Development  Agenda could  mean for  the  Round’s  principle demandeur,  the European Union (EU).