A Foreign Affairs Council meeting on trade issues took place in Brussels yesterday (8.5), chaired by Greek Deputy Minister of Development and Competitiveness, Notis Mitarachi. The agenda focused on progress in negotiations with the EU’s key trading partners, notably, Canada, Japan and the US. The promotion of growth and jobs are key priorities of the Greek Presidency and these agreements, once concluded, are expected to contribute significantly to this goal.

The Council adopted conclusions on the "green goods initiative," welcoming the announcement made by 14 World Trade Organization members, in Davos on 24 January 2014, on achieving global free trade in environmental goods and calling for a rapid start of negotiations as the first step in a process towards a multilateral outcome. The Council also adopted negotiating directives on environmental goods in order to guide the Commission in its negotiations.