EU backs Uzbekistan’s bid to join the World Trade Organization

EU Position on Uzbekistan’s WTO Accession – 14th Ministerial Conference (26‑29 March 2026, Yaounde, Cameroon)

• Proposal: The European Commission (Brussels, 20 Feb 2026) asks the Council to adopt a decision that sets the EU’s position at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14).
• Goal: The EU wants to support the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• Background
• The WTO Agreement started on 1 Jan 1995; the EU and all 27 member states are parties.
• The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s top decision‑making body and meets at least every two years.
• Uzbekistan applied to join the WTO in 1994. Negotiations have been ongoing for many years and are expected to finish before MC14.
• Accession would help Uzbekistan’s economic reform and sustainable development and would strengthen the rules‑based multilateral trading system.
• EU Position
• The EU will join any consensus reached by WTO members to adopt a decision on Uzbekistan’s accession.
• The decision will be made either before MC14 or during the conference, depending on the status of the accession package.
• Key Commitments in the Accession Package
• Goods: 100 % of tariffs are bound. The final bound rate for EU goods is about 4.5 %. Some tariffs will be implemented within 3–5 years.
• Services: Uzbekistan will open markets in many service sectors (legal, accounting, IT, real‑estate, telecom, construction, education, finance, tourism, transport, etc.).
• Legal Basis
• Procedural: Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• Substantive: Article 207 TFEU, which covers the EU’s common commercial policy.
• Council Decision (draft)
• Article 1: The EU will support the consensus to adopt a decision on Uzbekistan’s accession.
• Article 2: The decision is addressed to the European Commission.
• References
• WTO Agreement (Marrakesh Agreement).
• Council Decision 94/800/EC (1994) on the WTO Agreement.
• Other relevant WTO and EU legal texts.

This proposal is part of the EU’s ongoing effort to support new members joining the WTO and to maintain a stable, rules‑based trading system.