News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
The EU and Japan are joining the United States in a World Trade Organization dispute against China’s intellectual property practices. On Wednesday, the EU and Japan filed a request to join consultations – a preliminary phase in a legal dispute – initiated by Washington. Despite facing, as political allies, …
Reports that the European Union is “closely examining” possible World Trade Organization complaints against China for its policies and practices on intellectual property come as little surprise, as the EU just last week told a WTO committee that it was concerned about Beijing’s technology licensing requirements. US President Donald …
On Monday, seven World Trade Organization members raised concerns about the EU’s new Renewable Energy Directive during a goods committee meeting. In January, the European Parliament voted to ban palm oil from the bloc’s targets for consumption of renewable energy for transport by 2021, in a shift away from earlier …
EU free trade negotiations, ratifications and mandate releases have been on the slow lane recently compared to other trade policy files, as President Donald Trump and Brexit grab headlines and policymakers’ attention. Here’s an overview of where we are on the various files. Mercosur EU-Mercosur FTA negotiations are …
Almost all of the more than 50 World Trade Organization members that India invited to next week’s “mini-ministerial” plan to attend, but the two-day meeting is expected to accomplish little to tackle problems that have dogged the WTO for years. India decided to hold the informal gathering after the …
There’s about one year to go before its top leadership gets renewed. Yet the European Commission risks missing out on the early harvest it reaped in its free trade agreement negotiations with ASEAN members in the first years of this legislature, writes Iana Dreyer. The EU’s executive is trying …
This week’s main news was the announcement of new steps to make labour and environment provisions in EU free trade agreement have more bite, and the looming steel wars between Brussels and Washington. There’s been a lot of ASEAN activity going on as well (more soon). Below is what else is good …
European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström is in Singapore to attend a meeting with leaders of the South East Asian bloc ASEAN. The aim is to give new impetus to old plans to launch negotiations towards a region-to-region trade agreement. At the same time, the EU appears to be dragging …
There’s been a tremendous amount of media hoo-hah about the EU’s proposals on Northern Ireland in the draft Article 50 Withdrawal Agreement terms released today in Brussels. Here some highlights of the 119-page text relevant for trade policy wonks that are less visible in the media. Also, Tokyo explicitly said …
Foreign affairs ministers met today in Sofia to take decisions on a variety of difficult foreign affairs files. The picture isn’t rosy, with Syria, Venezuela or Myanmar on top of leaders’ agenda. The Foreign Affairs Council also devised a few new conclusions on the EU’s climate diplomacy. The use …
