EU trade chief Phil Hogan considers bid for WTO top job
European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has said he is considering a bid to become the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The EU trade chief confirmed he is “exploring the option of being a candidate” for the role that will become vacant in September, according to Reuters.
“I think that there is an important amount of work to be done to reform the organization, to make it more effective and efficient, but also to deal with many of the trade issues that are bedeviling the international community now arising from COVID-19,” he said.
Hogan advocates reform at the WTO and agrees with the uS and Japan that the global rules on industrial subsidies. His current role at the EU is his second role as a European commissioner, previously covering agriculture.
The current chief, Roberto Azevedo, announced he was quitting more than a year before the end of his term. The Brazilian announced last month that he would leave in August after running the organisation since September 2013.
The organisation usually takes nine months to pick a successor but will now have just three months to choose Azevedo’s replacement.
His successor will need to steer reforms and negotiations in the face of increasing protectionism and the recession triggered by the pandemic. They will also have to navigate the growing trade tensions, particularly between China and the US.
Among those in the running to be WTO director-general include Jesus Seade, a senior trade official in the Mexican government.
Reuters said Mexico nominated the trade official, who helped to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement, on Monday.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the board chair of global vaccine alliance Gavi, is also reportedly mulling a bid. She is an economist and has served as Nigeria’s foreign minister and finance minister.