European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has opened a conference focused on the European Union's trade policy towards developing countries. The objective of this conference is to discuss publicly how to maintain the effectiveness of the EU's General System of Preferences (GSP) in promoting development, how to make the most of regional trade agreements with developing countries, and how to encourage sustainable development.

Developing countries advance in world markets at different speeds. That is why the conference "EU Trade Policy towards Developing Countries" brings together a wide range of stakeholders, thus ensuring as many perspectives as possible to the discussion. Participants include: representatives from the Spanish Presidency and the European Parliament, development scholars and economists, as well as trade and development practitioners and civil society representatives.

The outcome of the debate will feed into a reflection on the future direction of EU trade policy as regards its contribution to development.

Another important aspect of the conference is the launch of a public consultation on the review of the EU's General System of Preferences scheme, under which the EU grants tariff preferences to developing countries. The results of this consultation will feed into the Commission's future proposal to the European Parliament and Council on an updated GSP regulation. All interested stakeholders are encouraged to participate. The Consultation will be available on DG Trade's website shortly.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on August 6th the Council Regulation (EC) Nº 732/2008 of July 22nd 2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from January 1st 2009 to December 31st 2011, and establishing a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance to developing countries that meet certain criteria set in the same rule.

Through its trade policy the EU aims to ensure that developing countries are able to benefit from access to its own markets and from the openness of the global economy. It sees progressive openness to trade as one part of a development strategy that has already lifted hundreds of millions of people in the developing world out of poverty, and can do the same for hundreds of millions more.