News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Monday, May 5, 2025
France’s stance on trade policy under President Emmanuel Macron has puzzled many. Yet Macron’s pragmatist logic is now starting to become clearer as his government finds its ground on the trade politics front back home and US President Donald Trump forces Paris to stay focused on the strategic dimension of …
Here a short midweek update on a variety of EU trade policy files: EU Mercosur Chief negotiators will meet on Friday in Brussels to translate technically the political signals exchanged during the meeting of Mercosur ministers hosted by the European Commission yesterday to help overcome what most observers …
The United Kingdom won’t be blocked from negotiating or renegotiating international trade agreements with third countries during the Brexit transition period, as long as it doesn’t start applying them before the end of that period, EU member states clarified today. Although doing so is the British government’s formal …
In Brussels, there is a lot of movement behind the scenes to try and finalise trade agreements with Mexico, Mercosur and Japan. Investment screening is climbing the policy priority list. The EU lost a case in the World Trade Organization against Indonesia over dumping duties it applies against palm …
Among trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s pledges in her 2015 ‘Trade for All’ strategy there is stepping up the fight against corruption. This promise is gradually being translated into action with new anti-corruption provisions foreseen in the coming updated EU Mexico Global Agreement and recently launched EU Chile Association Agreement upgrade. …
Negotiations to modernise the almost 20-year-old trade agreement between the EU and Mexico have intensified despite a missed December 2017 deadline set by EU negotiators to announce a political deal. Here’s the state of play. Mexico and the EU are clearly committed to clinching an agreement. Progress and goodwill …
EU member states are gradually accepting to exercise greater transparency in their joint trade policy making. The Council today released the negotiating mandate it gave the European Commission towards the modernisation of the 2002 EU-Chile Association Agreement, a very early move by member-state standards. The mandate itself reveals high EU …
Trade policy isn’t the most prominent priority of Bulgaria, the Balkan country in charge of presiding the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council. Sofia has put the onus on youth, security, digital and connectivity in the Western Balkans. Trade elicits only a few very general paragraphs in Sofia’s 16-page …
This week in EU trade was marked by a first substantive round of trade negotiations with Chile, as well as a meeting of the EU Korea trade committee dominated by EU recriminations against Korean beef import restrictions and one of its labour union laws. Otherwise it’s been report and data …
The European Parliament endorsed by a majority of 571 votes a report adopted by the international trade committee last November on an ongoing overhaul of the EU’s export control legislation. The EU’s regime will move away from focusing exclusively on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It will be …
