News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Saturday, April 26, 2025
The European Commission regularly sends notices to businesses to help them prepare for Britain’s departure from the EU as part of its so-called Brexit preparedness activities. A technical notice on ‘rules of origin’ released today is bound to send shivers across industries ranging from autos to chemicals. Industries with …
The European Union and the British government have gotten the ball rolling to establish the UK as an independent member of the World Trade Organization’s Government Procurement Agreement. The GPA is a plurilateral accord inked in the 1990s that sets common rules and enshrines liberalisation commitments among its members …
There’s only one big event on the Brussels trade agenda this week – another negotiating round with Mercosur – but that doesn’t mean the coming days will be quiet. Between the start of US tariffs on European steel and aluminium, the EU’s decision to respond with a World Trade Organization …
Today, the UK released slides on the Framework for the Future EU UK Economic Partnership. How much of it will fly with the EU is an open question. A novelty is emerging with Brexit in the world of international trade negotiations: the exchange of published PowerPoint slides. The advantage …
Theresa May’s government has started articulating proposals for the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU, which both sides are discussing this week in Brussels. Among them is the idea that data issues merit more than a ‘plain vanilla’ EU adequacy decision to guarantee safe and secure cross-border …
The European Commission requested a mandate from member states to redefine its tariff rate quotas under the World Trade Organization as Britain is set to leave the bloc in less than one year. The UK and the EU need to establish separate tariff and services schedules in the WTO …
A quarter of the issues remain open, says Ekaterina Zaharieva, Bulgaria’s minister for foreign affairs. That’s the main takeaway from today’s meeting of European ministers on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. The remaining EU27 states concluded that “not much progress has been made since the European Council …
The EU and the United Kingdom agreed on a list of topics they will want to address in upcoming exploratory discussions on their future trading relationship.
It’s hard not to wonder if Article 50 negotiations are progressing at all. The EU and Britain are trying to accelerate the pace of the UK’s withdrawal talks from the bloc. But they are digging in on the issue of Northern Ireland as the British political establishment tears itself apart …
There are just two key items on the EU trade agenda this week – which of course is shortened a bit by the Labour Day holiday tomorrow – but both are of widespread interest: the divisive US tariffs on steel and aluminium and Brexit. The European Parliament is also meeting …
