EU Official Says Carbon Adjustment Mechanism Will Be Important in Near Future
A European Commission executive told webinar listeners that while politicians in the West are viewing trade differently, remaining open to free trade is vital for the European Union's prosperity. Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, spoke Feb. 4 at the World Trade Symposium hosted by The Economist. “We have retired the old idea of free trade at any price,” she said. In this decade, Europe will be looking at trade through the prism of human rights, workers' rights, best recycling practices, digitalization and climate change, she said.
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She acknowledged that digital trade includes “sometimes thorny issues,” and said, “digital taxation will be a centerpiece of a number of discussions.”
On the environment, she said that “trade can be a very important tool to fight climate change. One of the things we are working on right now is a carbon border adjustment system.” That's needed, she said, because although there can be a “first mover advantage” to developing greener ways to produce goods, “the very first effect is your costs are going up. And if your trading partners are not doing the same thing … it’s important to have this carbon border adjustment mechanism to have a level playing field.”