News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Sunday, May 4, 2025
It took three and a half years since the negotiations were first finalised, but here we are: the EU’s member states has given the green light to the EU Vietnam free trade agreement and investment protection agreement. This paves the way for official signature and the ratification process in the …
This article was updated on 24 June at 17.35 CET. New information includes detailed dates for the EU Vietnam agreements and an update/erratum on the Spanish olives dispute settlement case. This week we might see breakthroughs in the Vietnam and Mercosur trade agreements. We will certainly see more EU US …
The EU is escalating its dispute with Ukraine over the country’s continued ban on exports of timber, and requested a panel this week after initial consultations collapsed. This is the first bilateral arbitration panel to be established under an EU trade agreement.
This week we saw developments on the EU China market economy case, Mercosur, the UK GSP scheme, fishing and Korea. What else happened?
Negotiators are giving it a try: to conclude the EU-Mercosur trade negotiations at the G20 summit in Osaka in 10 days’ time (28 and 29 June).
The EU not only managed to get South Korea to launch the ratification process of International Labour Organisation conventions it committed to abide by in the 2011 EU Korea free trade agreement, Seoul also agreed to update and accept new technical and EU automotive standards as part of ongoing bilateral …
The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization has suspended the high-profile case it brought against the European Union. Beijing sued because it believed the EU had not complied with a commitment to treat is as a market economy in its trade defence measures in time for a December …
The main EU trade policy items to watch out for this week are: e-commerce, Indonesian FTA, Vietnam FTA and IPA.
This week we’ve focused a lot on Australia and New Zealand as well as on internal EU battles over the steel safeguard.
Compared to the ongoing free trade agreement negotiation process with New Zealand, the European Union’s trade talks with Australia are advancing slowly. It’s clear Brussels and Canberra are taking the time they need to bridge wide gaps in the way they conceive some international trade and investment issues. One of …
