News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Today the international trade committee met for a somewhat longer session than the one held at the end of April at the height of Europe’s lockdown. Here some highlights of what’s been said. Pharma intellectual property The pharmaceutical intellectual property space is one to watch very closely post COVID-19. It …
The European Commission’s post-COVID-19 ‘recovery plan’ released today amidst strong media attention focuses mainly on financial and budget issues. But the governance of trade and global value chains is also a significant dimension of how Brussels sees a way out of the pandemic-induced slump. The European Commission adjusted its 2020 …
The EU and Japan held a bilateral virtual ‘leadership meeting’ today, in which the two parties reiterated their commitment to working together at the international level. The meeting was held in advance of a coming G7 meeting in the United States. The joint statement released after the meeting brings little …
The European Commission confirmed that it was allowing the temporary export licensing regime for personal protective equipment to lapse. The measure expired yesterday. It was introduced mid March 2020 in response to member states’ unilateral decisions to stop exports of masks, googles, gloves and protective wear including within the EU’s …
We are looking to a very packed agenda in EU trade this week. First and foremost, today is the day when the EU’s 30–day export restrictions regime for personal protective equipment expiresMonday 25 May. There is little sign yet of an extension – but the day has barely begun. Future …
Turkey pharma case in WTO The European Commission published this week its first legal submission in a dispute it filed against Turkey last year at the World Trade Organization concerning the EU’s neighbour’s restrictive policies in the area of pharmaceuticals. The case ‘Certain Measures concerning the Production, Importation and Marketing …
Turkey is one of a few elephants in the room nobody dares mentioning when it comes to the UK’s trading relationships post Brexit. On leaving the EU’s customs union at the end of this year, Britain will also leave the EU’s customs union with Turkey, a major emerging market at …
We had the trade wars. Now we have COVID-19. The collapse in cross-border trade is now firmly with us. The situation provides macabre joy to the non-humanist corners of Europe’s environmentalist and globalist movements. It certainly won’t be joyful to those who already see what negative economic growth and disrupted …
Today’s mainstream media will mainly focus on the budgetary dimension of a political agreement reached between Germany and France today on policies to help the European Union’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
The chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee is asking the European Union to look into some intellectual property rules in its trade policies and agreements with the view of making any future COVID-19 vaccine accessible to the largest numbers in the shortest possible period of time. In a …
