News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Friday, May 2, 2025
The European Commission is expected to table two negotiation mandate proposals for EU member states to greenlight in the coming weeks following a bilateral meeting between trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström and her counterpart Robert Lighthizer in Washington. The bilateral gathering was a follow-up to a summit between US President Donald …
The overarching question shaping European trade policy outcomes this year will be: what role for international trade and investment law for global business and the work of trade diplomats? This issue will be central in the four major files with which European trade policy will grapple: the future of the …
The first full working week of the new year will see the EU focus on World Trade Organization issues. Trilateral US Japan EU Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström will be in Washington tomorrow to meet her US and Japanese counterparts and discuss topics of joint interest in relation to WTO rules …
Jennifer Freedman explains what awaits the World Trade Organization in 2019.
It’s mainly been a WTO-intensive week for the EU with a revised intellectual property dispute filed against China, and the US having yet another gripe about the Appellate Body. London clinched a short bye-bye deal with Norway, Iceland and Liecthenstein, while the country is realising little is actually in place in …
The US and a dozen other World Trade Organization members have finally agreed about something concerning the Appellate Body: the WTO’s highest court has no authority to issue rulings that set a binding precedent. This issue is a non-issue in the eyes of WTO members including the EU, Canada, Japan …
The strong effects of regional trade agreements on commerce between members show that economic integration works, writes Per Altenberg. Negotiating RTAs that liberalise trade is an effective strategy for countries that seek economic improvement through trade, he argues.
Remember when the European Union filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization last spring targeting Chinese intellectual property violations and forced technology transfers? In fact, the preliminary consultations foreseen by WTO rules before legal proceedings begin never actually took place. Instead, the EU went back to the drawing board …
The European Commission is stepping up pressure on the Trump administration to fully comply with the 2016 Privacy Shield, a framework agreement that allows certified US companies to transfer personal data from EU-based citizens to the United States. The move follows on an annual review process held this autumn (see …
Formally it’s a quiet week for European trade policy, with a limited number of scheduled official meetings. But one can expect movement on a variety of trade files before everyone goes on holiday for Christmas.
