International Trade follow-up Committee mission to the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Between 26 and 29 March 2026, EESC members joined the EU delegation at the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Yaoundé.

Between 26 and 29 March 2026, EESC members joined the EU delegation at the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Yaoundé. The delegation was composed of seven members, including REX President Stefano Palmieri, SOC President Cinzia Del Rio, and Mira-Maria Danisman , chair of the International Trade Committee.

The delegation attended the daily debriefings for civil society hosted by DG Trade, and had informal meetings with the African Union ECOSOCC, the WTO, the French business association AFEP and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). A short impromptu meeting was also organized with MEP Warborn (INTA).

While the EESC’s participation was a success, the Members States did not achieve even the minimal goal of a common declaration on the WTO reform to pave the way for further work towards MC15 in 2028. The moratorium on e-commerce duties was left to expire for the first time since its introduction in 1998. As declared by the WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the members ran out of time and could not agree on the draft texts however, the intention is to finalise negotiations in Geneva over the next few weeks. 

While the EU should not and will not give up on the WTO, the priority remains to strengthen and expand our network of friends and partners, pursuing plurilateral solutions wherever possible. The EESC’s International Trade Committee will keep monitoring the developments on all open fronts on behalf of the REX section.

Please read the full statement by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization - Yaoundé, 2026.