The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization has suspended the high-profile case it brought against the European Union. Beijing sued because it believed the EU had not complied with a commitment to treat is as a market economy in its trade defence measures in time for a December …
Author: Iana Dreyer
Week Ahead in EU trade: E-commerce, Vietnam, Indonesia
The main EU trade policy items to watch out for this week are: e-commerce, Indonesian FTA, Vietnam FTA and IPA.
Week in Brussels: Mercosur hoopla, Israel labelling
This week we’ve focused a lot on Australia and New Zealand as well as on internal EU battles over the steel safeguard.
EU Australia FTA: Labour and environmental issues come into focus
Compared to the ongoing free trade agreement negotiation process with New Zealand, the European Union’s trade talks with Australia are advancing slowly. It’s clear Brussels and Canberra are taking the time they need to bridge wide gaps in the way they conceive some international trade and investment issues. One of …
Auto vs steel industry battle intensifies over import safeguard
The European Union is reviewing a safeguard it introduced earlier in 2019 to relieve steel producers from inexpensive imports in a market it feared would be flooded by cheap products in the aftermath of the US’s Section 232 steel import restrictions. The measure pits embattled European steel producers against the …
Week Ahead in EU Trade: China, trading system, G20 and the WTO
This week EU and Chinese negotiators are meeting for a 21st round of talks on the EU-China investment agreement. The two sides have brought discussions forward on market access (national treatment), investment protection and sustainable development. Beijing and Brussels vowed to accelerate their investment negotiations last March – let’s see …
Dual use export control plans revived as cyber climbs up EU priority list
The European Commission and the European Parliament Member states will be relieved that blockages in the Council over the new version of the EU’s dual use product export control regime were overcome this week as member states finally released their mandate for ‘trilogue’ negotiations towards a new regulations in the …
Brexit-by-proxy: EU relationship shapes UK debate on future US trade deal
United States president Donald Trump’s official state visit to the United Kingdom has made headlines this week for all sorts of reasons – but it has, among other things, thrown a sharpened spotlight on the possibility of a UK-US free trade agreement after the Britain leaves the EU. The negotiations …
Long read – Self reliance: the emerging EU trade policy trend in a hostile world
The European Commission no longer seems to trust global norms, fora or rule-making negotiations to uphold its interests in digital, competition, industry and trade policy. In fact many norms hardly exist and won’t likely emerge so quickly. The EU’s executive arm has been rethinking its policy toolkit and is seeking …
Week Ahead in EU trade: G20, US-UK, bilaterals
G20 trade minister’s meeting amidst escalating ‘trade wars’ G20 trade ministers will converge on Japan for a ministerial meeting on trade and the digital economy this week-end – an event hosted in Tsukuba. The aim is to prepare the ground to the big G20 summit later this month. This week’s …
