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.
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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.
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 …
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 …
Week in Brussels: EU, China, US and the new world (dis-)order, Rules of Origin
As many people in the policy world are taking time off between Easter and the many holidays coming up in May, it’s been a good week to reflect on the state of the world – and of the trading system. We are likely to face very rocky times indeed. For …
Week ahead in EU trade: Japan, WTO disputes
The two main meetings to look for this week in EU trade are an EU-Japan summit and the next meeting of the WTO’s dispute settlement body. Japan’s premier Shinzo Abe will be in Brussels on Thursday (25 April). EU leaders are set to “take stock of the implementation of the …
Week in Brussels: Chile, Cuba, Indonesia
EASTER BREAK: Borderlex journalists also need a break. So we will be off taking a rest for a few days, and back reporting and commenting on European Union trade policy next Tuesday. Happy Easter! What else happened this week in EU trade? EU could challenge new US-Cuba measures at WTO …
Week ahead in EU trade: EU-US
Policy makers are clearly winding down for Easter: there aren’t many official meetings or trade agreement negotiating rounds to look ahead to during the next two weeks. MEPs are gathering for a last plenary session in Strasbourg ahead of elections next month to pass a very long list of pieces …
Week in Brussels: Russian WTO steel case against EU, procurement reciprocity, Korean labour
China and EU-US trade relations dominated the news this week. Here’s a selection of what else happened. EU to face new Russian WTO complaint over steel anti-dumping duties This week in Geneva, Russia requested a panel in a dispute filed in February 2017 against the EU’s anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled …