News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Friday, April 25, 2025
Although they haven’t even started yet, United States-European Union trade talks already face major obstacles. Moving forward is critical to end the ‘tug of war’ between the US and EU. The best way to get there is to take a multifaceted approach aimed at both the transatlantic market and the …
The EU is threatening to suspend imports from Cambodia due to human and labour right violations. But the products under discussion for suspension are precisely those where the EU has a track record of entrenched protectionism. This looks like a clear case of double standards, opines Iana Dreyer.
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.
Early fears that Italy’s populist government would block the EU’s trade agreement with Canada have proven unwarranted. Despite Trump-style rhetoric and ‘Italy first’ approaches, the populist government in Rome seems to have fallen in line with other EU governments on trade since taking power six months ago. The government is split …
With Australia’s ratification this week of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal is now set to kick in next month. The accord, which will provide freer trade and investment access among its 11 members and link up markets with a combined gross domestic product of $13.4 trillion, …
Emily Rees assesses the impact of this Sunday’s Brazilian presidential election on European investments in Latin America’s largest economy and what sort of role the new administration will likely play in helping to secure a trade agreement with the EU. In an exceedingly polarised political climate, Brazilians are expected to …
The EU and China know they must work together to show leadership in matters of global trade and investment. But realising effective cooperation with trade partners to make the system more robust and to withstand the “disruptive bilateralism originating from Washington” is easier said than done, argues Jacques Pelkmans.
Welcome to the jungle. The title of a 1990s song by US rock group Guns ‘n’ Roses seems apt in the world that EU trade policy is facing this autumn. It is a world at risk of descending into lawlessness, where guns start to prevail over roses in the international …
Italy’s new coalition government is pushing a protectionist agenda that puts national sovereignty at the centre and may well set the country on a collision course with Brussels, Berlin and Paris, argues Nicola Casarini. The new government in Rome is promoting ‘Italy First’, a set of policies that may undermine …
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 …
