We are looking at a packed week in EU trade. There will be two important negotiations rounds and a few critical meetings in Brussels.
Latest news
Week in Brussels: Cambodia, Eastern Partnership, FTA calendar updates
This week, World Trade Organization ambassadors met in rue de Lausanne in Geneva for the General Council meeting. It was mainly a meeting to – literally –‘ confront’ views on the state of the organisation and on how to reform it. We partly covered the Appellate Body discussion.
International trade: EU must start preparing for the worst and resist own Trumpian sirens
After European elections later this month, the challenge in Europe will be to keep our nations’ own Trumpian instincts at bay and position ourselves as a safe haven in a turbulent world, writes Iana Dreyer.
Key WTO members converge on idea of circumscribing Appellate Body role
The mediation process over the crisis of appointments of departing members of World Trade Organization Appellate Body members initiated last February by New Zealand’s veteran trade diplomat David Walker has visibly channelled discussions over the most divisive issue currently in the WTO onto a path of constructive proposals. On Tuesday …
Week Ahead in EU trade: EU-US, steel, UK customs union
This will perhaps be the quietest of all three holiday-heavy weeks spanning Easter in late April to Europe Day this coming Thursday. But it is only the quiet before the storm. Next week will be manic – so let’s use this one to recharge batteries ahead of a second half …
Week in Brussels: How the EU battery alliance already permeates EU trade policy
On Thursday (2 May) Germany’s Peter Altmaier, France’s Bruno Le Maire and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic formally launched the European Battery Alliance in Paris. The plan has been in the works in Brussels for almost two years and is the new face of European industrial policy. The aim …
United States eases LNG shipping restraints in view of Europe sales
It’s a case of three interests coming together in the United States: geopolitics, mercantile endeavours and Trumpian electioneering. This time around, the EU had it relatively easy in prompting a significant shift in US domestic regulation. When the European Union and the United States were negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and …
ECJ gives green light to CETA investment court
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 …
Steel: EU to stop duplication of safeguard and anti-dumping duties, faces new Russian WTO complaint
The European Union’s safeguard on imports of steel enacted earlier this year has made many EU trading partners and large chunks of Europe’s manufacturing industry unhappy. The import restrictions were enacted to avoid the steel industry taking an unnecessary hit from the global trade frictions triggered after the United States …
Week Ahead in EU trade: EU-US gas trade, CETA investment court, Tunisia
One gets many ‘Out of Office’ messages these days: between Easter and the many coming holidays in May, including this week’s May Day, a large number of people take time off from work. Yet the policy churn continues. Below are the three main items to watch in EU trade this …
