News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Monday, May 5, 2025
After the European Commission and member states agreed this spring to accelerate the pace of internal procedures to get the EU-Japan and EU-Singapore free trade agreements ratified, the Vietnam pact concluded in 2015 was largely seen as set aside. But there’s movement to try to approve the deal before European …
The EU is launching bilateral trade agreement negotiations with Australia. In an interview with Borderlex’s Iana Dreyer, Australian Ambassador to the EU Justin Brown shares his views on the crisis of the multilateral system, the solutions Australia and the EU could offer, and the tough nuts that need cracking to …
Today, EU and UK Brexit negotiators reiterated they want to avoid value-added tax and atomic Armageddon on 30 March. It has become abundantly clear that the United Kingdom and the EU will not have made sufficient progress on the terms of their separation to warrant a shift to discussions …
If the EU wants to avoid losing a potential World Trade Organization dispute following its decision to phase out palm and soybean oil-based biofuels, it will need to prove its environmenal criteria are objective. For political reasons, that will be difficult, as this might involve displeasing EU rapeseed and sunflower …
The future of the landmark EU-Canada free trade agreement CETA was thrown into doubt as Italy’s agriculture minister said his country would not ratify the accord because it didn’t sufficiently protect the names of certain Italian cheeses. The geographical indications chapter of the deal was contentious both with Canada …
It may become one of the fastest pieces of legislation ever adopted in the European Union. Plans are moving quickly to introduce EU-wide rules for the screening of foreign direct investments. These were introduced in September 2017 in response to calls from France, Germany and Italy to keep an eye …
The biggest EU business association is calling on the European Commission, member states and the United Kingdom to up the ante in customs and trade compliance matters as the date of Britain’s exit from the bloc approaches rapidly and no tangible signs of an exit or free trade deal are …
After the disastrous Group of Seven summit in Canada, the EU will need to find ways to keep calm, focus on saving the WTO’s dispute settlement system and address some of the root causes of its disputes with the US – not least Germany’s current account surplus, argues Iana Dreyer.
The main obsession in Brussels this week has been the EU-US trade spat. All eyes will be on the Group of Seven meeting in Canada. Mercosur and EU negotiators have been working until the time of writing on narrowing gaps on ‘geographical indications’ protection and Mercosur’s offer on autos (rules of origin …
Like the rest of the world, Switzerland is wondering how the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union will shape up after it leaves the EU next March. Yet more than for any third country, for the Swiss, a lot depends on the future UK-EU trading arrangements. The uncertainty …
