Abstract
This article discusses the proposal issued by the European Commission (Commission) on 10 April 2013, for the modernization of the EU's trade defence instruments (TDI). Considering the time that has lapsed since the last TDI review, a modernization aimed at increasing transparency and bringing the application of TDI in line with modern day realities and the WTO Agreements as interpreted in WTO disputes certainly seems opportune. However, the Commission's proposal seems to be a missed opportunity. On the one hand, it champions protectionism by giving primacy to ex officio investigations and the abolition of the lesser duty rule in anti-subsidy investigations and when 'structural raw material distortions' exist, on the other hand, it fails to adequately address administrative transparency, an area in which the EU system has been lacking and compares unfavourably with other traditional TDI users such as the United States (US) and Canada. As many WTO members have patterned their TDI after those of the EU, the butterfly effect will almost certainly come back to haunt EU exporters.
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