News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Brussels and Ankara are sitting down for two days on Thursday and Friday (8 & 9 July) for the annual meeting of their 1995 EU Turkey customs union joint committee. Among others, they will re-start a conversation on modernising their trade arrangements.
It’s taken the European Commission a few days to gather its thoughts and feedback from the wine industry following Russia’s recent decision to authorise the label ‘Champagne’ only for Russian-produced sparkling wines. But a response will soon be in the offing – and a dispute invoking EU rights under TRIPS …
The EU-Korea free trade agreement came into force ten years ago in July. This was the first in a generation of ‘deep’ trade agreements Brussels has negotiated since then, each agreement stirring more political controversy at home. It also set the tone in shaping what is today’s ‘model’ EU FTA. …
The coming months will be a challenge for advocates of international trade agreements in Brussels and the wider European Union. Post-Trump, post-Brexit and post-pandemic trade policies are bound to focus on files that respond to a sense of existential threat emanating from its member states.
The number of new legal disputes being filed at the WTO’s dispute settlement system is rising again after a low in 2020, when only five cases were brought to Geneva for legal adjudication. Given the continued stalemate over the Appellate Body, some of these cases could be adjudicated by the …
The United Kingdom and Singapore have formally launched negotiations towards a Digital Economy Partnership Agreement. Today’s negotiation launch is a diplomatic success for Singapore, which is seeking to become a hub for international digital trade governance.
It’s been the kind of week that is sprinkled with a slew of ‘little’ news but little that is earth-shattering. Some news were rather big such as the launch of investment promotion agreement negotiations with Angola, the announcement that the EU and Kenya will apply their EPA bilaterally or the …
The European Commission is now moving up a gear in preparing a long-announced new trade regulation, a so-called ‘anti-coercion’ instrument. A preliminary consultation period ended mid June. The actual relevant piece of legislation will be presented before the end of 2021.
The European Union and Kenya launched a ‘strategic partnership’ on Monday, whose pillar will be the implementation of the Kenyan arm of the EU-East African Community Economic Partnership.
Nigeria has tabled language in ongoing WTO e-commerce agreement talks that seeks to exempt poor countries from free data flow obligations.
