Skip to main content
Trade

Chief Trade Enforcement Officer

The European Commission implements and enforces trade rules in the EU and with its trading partners. 

Trade topics
  • Enforcement and protection
  • Trade policy

The Chief Trade Enforcement Officer (CTEO) takes implementation and enforcement forward effectively in a number of ways:

  • Strengthening implementation of the EU’s multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements.
  • Ensuring that countries the EU has trade agreements with meet the commitments they make under them on:
    • opening their markets to EU exports and investments;
    • respecting other trade commitments that benefit EU operators;
    • workers’ rights;
    • tackling climate change, and;
    • the environment.
  • Managing the Single Entry Point where EU companies, trade organisations or non-governmental organisations can submit complaints:
  • More information on how the Single Entry Point works:
  • Managing Trade Barrier Regulation investigations, and initiating investigations where the Commission requires more information on potential barriers to trade or the non-respect of other commitments.
  • Overseeing the EU’s trade defence work. This includes supervising the implementation of all stages of trade defence investigations from assessing complaints to imposing measures or terminating investigations. Complaints against allegedly unfairly trade imports into the EU are lodged directly with the Complaints Office (which is dedicated to TDI complaints and as such distinct from the Single Entry Point).
  • Coordinating dispute settlement proceedings between the EU and non-EU countries:
    • in the World Trade Organisation, and;
    • under EU trade agreements.
  • Ensuring the availability of effective dispute settlement rules (through the reform of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding, the negotiation and upkeep of bilateral dispute settlement systems and the reform of investment state dispute settlement through the establishment of a multilateral investment court).
  • Ensuring the EU has an effective arsenal to enforce EU rights under international agreements (the Enforcement Regulation), to protect itself from coercive actions (the Anti-Coercion Instrument) and has the necessary tools to manage investment disputes (the Regulation on Financial Responsibility).
  • Overseeing Commission initiatives to make it easier for EU firms to reap the benefits created by the EU’s trade agreements. The Access2Markets website to help small and medium-sized enterprises import and export is one example of this.
  • Initiating and steering a broader discussion on how to strengthen cooperation on implementation and enforcement with Member States and stakeholders, both in the EU and abroad (see also an issues paper by DG Trade on the Implementation and enforcement of EU trade policy).

Visit the Enforcement and protection section for more information.

For general questions on the Single Entry Point: TRADE-single-entry-pointatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (TRADE-single-entry-point[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Contact the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer

Denis Redonnet

Name
Denis Redonnet
Email
TRADE-CTEOatec [dot] europa [dot] eu
Phone number
+32 (0)2 295 54 24
Postal address

European Commission, Directorate General for Trade Rue de la Loi 170
1049 Brussels
Belgium

Office
CHAR 07/034

Tune in to trade policy insights

Picture of Valdis Dombrovskis

What does it take to steer EU trade policy through the challenges of our times?

Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis shares his insights into the inner workings of EU trade policy.

19/10/2023 | Episode 1 | 31 minutes

Picture of Denis Redonnet, Martin Lukas and Carolina Cumbo Nacheli

What does it take to defend open trade and help European companies compete fairly on the global market?

Tom Moylan meets the European Commission’s Chief Trade Enforcement Officer Denis Redonnet and two seasoned trade defence experts.

28/11/2023 | Episode 2 | 34 minutes

Latest news

  • Press release

The value of EU trade covered by the vast network of 42 agreements with 74 partners in place in 2023 was more than €2.3 trillion, having risen by over 30% over the past five years, according to the Annual Report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade policy published today.

  • 1 min read
  • News article

On 25 September 2024, the EU and US held an in-depth technical discussion with transatlantic social partner stakeholders under the Trade and Labour Dialogue (TALD), focused on ways to eradicate forced labour from supply chains and ensure a successful, just and inclusive green transition.

  • 1 min read

Latest events