Europe strongly criticized protectionism as detrimental to global growth and urged trade partners to reject such policies here on Tuesday at the conclusion of the 9th Asia Europe Meeting.

European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso told media that his organization is aware that stronger trade with Asia is not the panacea for the Eurozone crisis.

Nonetheless he insisted that the EC is engaged in a wide ranging program centered on establishing Free Trade Agreements ( FTA) with fewer clauses for protectionism.

In effect the ECps push against protectionism will promote tariff and non-tariff as well as investment protectionism, he noted in response to a question. "Europe is pursuing a new generation of FTA's benchmarked on the South Korean agreement. It is important for Asia to move away from protectionism as well because we are the largest market and have fostered development through rejection of protectionism. Having said this we don't see trade as a panacea for the Euro crisis but is a very important vehicle for growth. The ASEM conclusions reflect this," he said.

He acknowledged that the downturn in the global economy may provoke countries to seek protectionism mechanisms but urged against this measure as it would not result in sustainable development for the world as a whole. "EC wants to remove protectionism to have as level a playing field as possible. It is important for countries to avoid temptation to look inward. We are against protectionism and think it's the way forward."