News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Monday, May 5, 2025
The European Commission hopes to finalise preparations on the apportionment of tariff rate quotas between the EU and the UK by the end of the year to make sure all practical procedures are in place before Brexit date. During a discussion with MEPs, a commission official said the bloc needed …
The EU Japan summit due to be held tomorrow in Brussels was postponed to 17 July and will take place in Tokyo. The signing ceremony of the EU Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will take place then. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is held up in Japan due to damaging floods. …
The EU is transfixed by the trade war with the United States. This week was comparatively quiet in terms of trade meetings or negotiations – but the next couple of weeks will be packed. This week we’ve written on what World Trade Organization members have been telling the US …
The political drama unfolding over planned US auto duties looks like a replay of this spring’s steel and aluminium tariff saga, just on a much grander scale. Let’s not expect a resolution of the transatlantic trade crisis so soon, comments Iana Dreyer. The US, the EU and (mainly) Germany …
The European Union’s heads of government significantly amended their conclusions on trade policy in the night from Thursday to Friday, offering more detailed guidance on what they want in terms of World Trade Organization reforms – a goal the EU formally set itself this spring. The Council officially remains silent …
It’s been an eventful week in Brussels, culminating with the ongoing European Council – which we will cover separately. The fear of US tariffs on autos, that the multilateral trading system will unravel and China, and frustrations at the slow pace of Brexit negotiations (here and here) have all dominated …
The World Trade Organization is holding meetings today to examine the United Kingdom’s bid to become an independent member of the Government Procurement Agreement. The EU is also accelerating the pace of splitting its tariff schedule from the UK’s. On Tuesday, EU member states gave the European Commission the …
There is increased fretting that the UK could crash out of the European Union in a chaotic way next March if no significant progress is made in its withdrawal negotiations with the bloc in the coming months. The EU is not – at the moment – ready to seriously envisage contingency plans. …
European Commission vice president Jyrki Katainen prepared the groundwork for an EU-China summit in mid-July during today’s high-level economic and trade dialogue meeting in Beijing. The dialogue, initially set up in 2008, has never been much more than a talking shop. But it looks like this time could be different. …
It’s been a packed week in Brussels on trade. The EU formally launched trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström engaged in a real joyful tweetfest as she travelled Down Under. We interviewed the Australian ambassador to the EU (in case you missed it). The …
