News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Saturday, April 26, 2025
The World Trade Organization is holding meetings today to examine the United Kingdom’s bid to become an independent member of the Government Procurement Agreement. The EU is also accelerating the pace of splitting its tariff schedule from the UK’s. On Tuesday, EU member states gave the European Commission the …
With few countries running to the UK offering to open their markets, growing nationalist populism and authoritarianism across Europe, and protectionism on the rise domestically, Britain faces some tough choices on how to move forward with its trading arrangements. The UK may do better to seek a new customs union …
The calendar is a bit thin this week, though some news could come out of the two-day European Council meeting about WTO reform and Brexit. And it’s anyone’s guess what we might expect from the US and its unpredictable leader after China’s central bank said yesterday that it would unlock …
Like the rest of the world, Switzerland is wondering how the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union will shape up after it leaves the EU next March. Yet more than for any third country, for the Swiss, a lot depends on the future UK-EU trading arrangements. The uncertainty …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Britain sees the fact that the European Union accepted that Britain may negotiate and sign international agreements with third countries during the planned transition or implementation period after March 2019 as a major political victory. Now London is accelerating the pace of engagement with prospective trading partners. During a …
On Monday, the European Commission revealed that it had taken on board the United Kingdom’s request for help in asking third countries to continue to treat Britain as if it were an EU member state during the planned 21-month transition period after Brexit. The concession was included in a …
