News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
This week has seen two ‘strategic’ initiatives: the launch of a new paper on EU-US relations and the upgrading of EU-ASEAN relations post RCEP. Here other developments of potential interest. Dombrovksis talks to French Senate – Paris CETA ratification date unclear Nobody knows yet when the French government will put …
Good afternoon, an overview of interesting trade policy developments in Brussels this week. 35% of EU exports to be covered by trade agreements in 2024 and other strategic objectives The European Commission’s trade directorate released its 2020 ‘Strategic Plan’ this week. The document spells out how the body will approach …
A vote on a low-key European Parliament report this week turned into a major battle over the direction of trade policy in a post COVID-19 world. It worked as a catalyst, revealing growing rifts reaching right into the political centre-ground on European trade politics in a turbulent time. Green goals …
Dear readers, this is the last Week in Brussels column before our summer recess. The next Week in Brussels column will appear on 30 August 2019. We will publish very sparingly over the next two weeks due to the general recess period in relevant European and international trade institutions. Here …
The Brussels trade world has had a week mainly focused on Canada, climate and energy.
In a landmark opinion released today the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the ‘investment court system’ established between the European Union and Canada to resolve disputes between international investors and host jurisdictions covered by the agreement is compatible with EU law. The main issue was whether …
Canada and the EU hosted their first CETA Joint Committee meeting. The committee’s role is to oversee the implementation of the trade agreement. In fact, the meeting mainly dealt with demands made on it which are not in the treaty.
EU trade this week was heavy on WTO reform and China (here, here). Brexit was all over the headlines. But there are no actual new developments to report from the heads of government meeting in Austria with Prime Minister Theresa May this week. The Irish border issue remains unresolved, so …
It’s been a big-ticket week in trade, kicked off by a meeting between the USTR and the EU’s trade commissioner on a possible ‘deal’, and two big reports adopted by the European Parliament on relations with the United States and with China. There was also some action on the Brexit …
Italy’s new coalition government is pushing a protectionist agenda that puts national sovereignty at the centre and may well set the country on a collision course with Brussels, Berlin and Paris, argues Nicola Casarini. The new government in Rome is promoting ‘Italy First’, a set of policies that may undermine …
