This will be a week where the European Union will test its ability to decide on its fundamental policy direction and on international trade.
Author: Iana Dreyer
Week in Brussels: A new low in transatlantic trade relations
The week started with a gloomy assessment of the transatlantic tariff threat picture by the trade commissioner and ended with threats of new US tariffs on France, and potentially Britain, following moves in Paris and London to giant digital company profits.
Long read: Ukraine’s slow but steady westward trade path
Five years after the Maidan revolution, the ‘deep and comprehensive’ free trade agreement between the European Union and Ukraine is turning out to be an important vehicle in the Eastern European country’s gradual economic decoupling from Russia. It is also buttressing the country’s slow but steady reform path.
Greens not among trade committee top dogs — but sustainability issues are top MEP priority
The international trade committee of the European Parliament will be led by experienced MEPs with a stake in continuity in current European Union trade policy. Even if the Green group is not in the management this term, the signs are that advocates of a stronger focus on labour, and in …
One hundred WTO members chide new EU pesticides regulations
One hundred WTO members aired concerns about the European Union’s ongoing drive to heavily restrict, if not ban, pesticide use in agriculture at a meeting in Geneva today (9 July).
Week Ahead: Trade committee, Ukraine, IPI
While the EU awaits the verdict of the WTO arbitrator sometime this month that will set the levels of duties the United States may levy on imports from Europe, its trade policy machinery continues churning on.
Week in Brussels: EU, Japan to appoint top-notch legal experts, Korea dispute festers
It’s getting ever clearer: the EU is planning to rely increasingly on its bilateral free trade agreements to settle trade disputes with its partners. It is now actively testing the ground.
New INTA committee: Old guard on your left, new faces, Greek surge
There will plenty of new faces in the new international trade committee in the European Parliament, whose configuration was agreed late last night in Strasbourg.
Blog: Mercosur agreement – the victory of expediency over thoroughness
The Mercosur agreement is not the most interesting or ambitious trade deal the EU has ever signed. It reflects our times and the EU’s wish to show the world and the United States it is defending its interests, comments Iana Dreyer.
Week ahead in EU trade: G20 fallout, parliament leadership race, EU Australia
It hasn’t been much of a weekend for European leaders. Nor for journalists. We’ve had: a handshake deal on the EU Mercosur free trade negotiations on Friday night with few details on its exact content, the signing of the EU Vietnam free trade agreement in Hanoi on Sunday (30 June), …
