News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Sunday, April 27, 2025
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 …
China and the EU will resume talks on a bilateral investment treaty this week – but don’t count on much news from the discussions. The main stories are likely to come instead from tomorrow’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting, as ministers debate and decide on a range of trade-related issues including …
There have been a few developments and clarifications on the variety of bilateral free trade agreements under way in the EU in recent days. So here are some updates on where things stand with Mexico, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. EU-Mexico ‘agreement in principle’ – next steps …
The EU is doing its homework to prepare for a political agreement with the United Kingdom in October on the bloc’s future relationship with its departing member: today it came up with a structure on how it aims to approach the matter. A powerpoint slide released today by EU …
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 United Kingdom is preparing to establish an independent trade remedy regime as it leaves the European Union. But time to get this right is running out. Regardless of whether there is a status-quo transition period after Brexit date in late March 2019 or not, or whether the UK …
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.
The United Kingdom’s civil service is trying to increase its ability to grapple with trade policy matters across its various ministries. In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, the UK’s state machinery found itself unprepared to tackle the challenges of a policy area that permeates all layers of government …
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 …
