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Council of the European Union      4/12/2017  Anti-dumping: Council adopts new rules against unfair trade practices On 4 December, the Council approved new rules to help  protect the EU against unfair trade practices. They will enter into force by 20 December. This new anti-dumping methodology will  identify and redress cases where prices of imported products are artificially lowered due to state intervention. "“Today we are delivering on own of our presidency's priorities: strengthening our anti-dumping toolkit to provide a fair trade environment for EU producers. The new rules will be crucial in ensuring that all our trading partners are selling us their products at undistorted prices, and that fair market competition is respected."" Urve Palo, Estonian minister for trade The new legal framework removes the former distinction between market and non-market economies for calculating dumping while maintaining the same level of protection for producers. The Commission will now need to prove the existence of a "significant market distortion" between a product's sale price and its production cost. On that basis, it will be allowed to set a price for the product by referring for example to the price of the good in a country with a similar level of economic development or to relevant undistorted international costs and prices. The Commission will also draft specific reports on countries or sectors describing distortions. In line with current practice, it will be for EU firms to file complaints, but they will be able to use the Commission’s reports to support their case. Next steps The text adopted on 15 November by the European Parliament and on 4 December by the Council will be signed in Strasbourg on 13 December. The publication in the Official Journal of the regulation is expected on 19 December.  It will enter into force one day later. Background The Commission proposed targeted amendments to the anti-dumping methodology in November 2016. This specific adaptation to the regulation on trade defence instruments - which is also in the process of being reviewed - is  formulated in a country-neutral way and in full compliance with the EU's WTO obligations. EU inland navigation sector to have a common system of professional certificates – Council adopts legal act Workers in the inland navigation sector in the EU will soon benefit from a single certification system, which will allow them to practice across Europe. The directive setting up the system was adopted by today's Transport and Telecommunications Council, following informal agreement with the European Parliament in June. ""The common certificate will improve the career prospects and mobility of inland navigation professionals and give a welcome boost to this particularly environmentally friendly mode of transport. I would like to thank the Maltese presidency and the European Parliament for all their work on this file."" Kadri Simson, Estonia's Minister for Economic Affairs and Infrastructure The certificate system will be based on competence, opening up new opportunities for talented and motivated people to progress or even move into the sector from elsewhere. It will cover all crew members, from apprentices to boatmasters, working on all inland waterways. The comprehensive nature of these new rules is a significant improvement on existing legislation, which in this sector is limited to boatmasters – and only when they operate on rivers and canals other than the Rhine. To avoid disproportionate administrative burdens, the directive takes account of the different characteristics of EU countries; for example some countries have no inland navigation at all or only seasonal activity. The extent to which member states are required to incorporate the new rules into their national law will therefore depend on their individual circumstances. Today's final vote by the Council concludes the legislative procedure at first reading. The European Parliament voted on 14 November 2017. The directive will be signed by both institutions in mid-December and published in the EU Official Journal. It will enter into force 20 days after publication, and member states will then have four years to bring their national legislation into line with the new rules as laid down in the 'transposition' provisions. The directive adopted today is part of EU efforts to promote inland waterway transport under the NAIADES II programme.