The EU and Mercosur have exchanged what they term their ‘final offers’ on market access as part of efforts to bring their almost two-decade-old talks to a close in the coming weeks. The offers exchanged yesterday cover tariffs and quotas for goods as well as services and procurement. The EU, …
Author: Iana Dreyer
Insight: EU, US and China trade – a common line of defence
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Brussels yesterday, and trade was a formal talking point on the agenda for his meetings with Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief. But nothing came out on that meeting on this topic. While trans-Atlantic cooperation on trade is largely off the …
EU trade defence reform: institutions reach final deal
The 2013 plans to overhaul the EU’s trade defence legislation are coming to fruition. The EU’s new legislation aims to modernise the EU’s trade defence instruments. Revived in 2016, the package of new measures comprises greater transparency, efforts at greater predictability of measures for traders and EU importers, and …
‘Future’ environmental compliance costs creep into EU trade-defence calculations
The EU is set to introduce ‘future’ costs of compliance with environmental and labour treaties in its calculation of injury margins in trade-defence cases. The bloc is now making systematic its consideration of a trading partner’s compliance with International Labour Organization and ‘multilateral environmental’ conventions, including the 2015 Paris Agreement …
A week in Brussels: Latin America, Vietnam, TDI, MIC
This week’s trade highlights of the week have been: Latin America, the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement, trade defence and the EU’s multilateral investment court plans. Deal or no deal in Mercosur, that is the question The EU has been negotiating hard with both Mercosur and Mexico this week …
Insight: Post Brexit UK trade agreements face a reality check
As the date of Brexit approaches, Britain and various European Union trading partners are multiplying contacts with London to gauge what their future trade relationship will be once the UK leaves the bloc. As conversations with these countries deepen, the task appears increasingly complex. Current contacts with Australia and Switzerland reveal …
Comment: what will make or break a Mercosur deal
The EU and Mercosur are trying hard to get their deal trade done in the coming weeks. The atmosphere among negotiators and in the EU is frenetic as the 31st round of negotiations opens in Brussels on Wednesday. Tensions are running high as competing interests between the parties and …
Dual-use regulation overhaul to drag on in European Parliament
The European Parliament will once again examine in plenary a compromise text on ‘dual-use’ export control reached in the international trade committee on Thursday, before it is sent back to the European Commission and member states. On 23 October, MEPs mainly from the centre-right ultimately refused to send the final …
Listen in: Britain prioritises services exports post Brexit – but does leaving the single market help?
Borderlex’s Iana Dreyer on why services exports matter to Britain and how the EU single market compares to other free trade agreements in boosting the UK’s export prowess.
A week in Brussels
Welcome to a new weekly column ‘A week in Brussels’ with the highlights of the trade week in Brussels. I hope you enjoy it! The trade week in Brussels ends with an understated Eastern Partnership summit. It brings together of a group of disparate countries traumatised by the Ukraine crisis …
