News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Monday, April 28, 2025
It looks as if MEPs are confident they can get the required majority to pass the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, the landmark trade deal concluded late last year between the EU and Japan, after all. The European Parliament today confirmed that a vote scheduled for Wednesday would go ahead — …
This week’s top stories: Britain and services in the WTO, a big bazooka in the WTO’s dispute settlement body, a Japan deal at risk of falling victim to German and other social-democratic political decline, member states wrangling over rice imports from Myanmar and Cambodia. But also these stories here: Top …
China has joined a host of other World Trade Organization members in calling for WTO reforms and is actively working on its own proposal on how to tackle problems at the Geneva-based trade body. But with many Chinese policies in the crosshairs of a joint reform proposal by the EU, …
The European Parliament’s leaders sat down today to confirm that the EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement and EU-Japan Economic Partnership were going to be put to MEPs for ratification next Wednesday in Strasbourg as planned. But persistent splits in the Socialists and Democrats group still cast a shadow over ratification.
EU governments are split in the face of proposals by the European Commission to reapply import protections on rice from Cambodia and Myanmar following an import surge from these countries. The two Asian countries, which qualify as least-developed countries, benefit from duty-free imports of rice under the EU’s General System …
G20 fallout December 2018 will be remembered as a decisive moment in European trade policy. Leaders came back to Europe from the G20 in Argentina over the week-end without securing a commitment by the big leaders to fight protectionism – although WTO reform is on the agenda of the world’s …
As the EU gears up for the crucial G20 summit in Buenos Aires, below other developments in the world of European trade. Don’t forget to read up on Chris Horseman’s pieces on the UK’s accession to the GPA in Geneva and the state of play in Britain’s rollover of EU free …
It comes as little surprise that the World Trade Organization expects global merchandise trade to continue decelerating in the coming months – but it’s bad news, nonetheless. Mounting trade tensions, tighter credit conditions in key markets and waning business confidence have caused export orders to fall, the WTO said in …
It was meant to be largely a technical exercise. It turned out to be more political than expected. The European Union is about to adopt a new regulation on safeguards on imports that will apply equally to all its new bilateral free trade agreements. A final compromise among the three …
The European Commission is mulling safeguard measures against rice from Cambodia and Myanmar, two of Asia’s poorest countries benefiting from the bloc’s Everything-but-Arms trade preferences.
