The EU and Japan are seeking to restart FTA negotiations this month, after end-of-year consultations last December led negotiators to conclude that the time was not ripe for the sealing of a deal that has been under negotiation since 2013. Among the various matters outstanding is public procurement. Since the very beginning, …
Asia
Advocate General says BITs with Singapore can only be terminated by member states
The EU Singapore FTA is the first practical test case for the termination of bilateral investment treaties signed by the European countries before 2009 – the year of entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Twelve member states have BITs in place with Singapore. These treaties cover investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement. …
EU Singapore FTA is a mixed agreement, says ECJ Advocate General
In an opinion issued ahead of an expected Court of Justice ruling regarding the competences accruing to the EU and the member states respectively as to the EU Singapore free trade agreement, a pact concluded in 2013, the Advocate General has confirmed that the deal covers issues that are both …
COM review of antidumping duties on Argentina and Indonesia biodiesel part of broader web of legal disputes
The Commission announced it was undertaking a review of its antidumping measures applied to biodiesel imported from Indonesia and Argentina which have been in force since 2013. The move is only part of a wider web of legal disputes regarding these measures. The announcement states that the EU aims to comply with …
EU Japan FTA talks require “more work” – EU chief negotiator
The EU and Japan have been trying to conclude their free trade talks before the end of 2016, but the already not very realistic prospect of doing so has hit the wall of reality. “These negotiations are very close to a conclusion”, said Mauro Petriccione, the EU’s chief negotiator at …
MES: China’s WTO complaint on antidumping against EU targets the ‘basic regulation’
China’s complaint to the WTO’s dispute settlement body on Monday was released on Thursday (15 December 2016) ahead of a meeting in Geneva. The text attacks the EU’s so-called ‘basic regulation’ and the relevant articles that single out China for a different treatment than other WTO members for the …
Trade defence overhaul faces rough ride in Parliament amidst WTO pressure from China
The compromise agreement reached by member states on Tuesday morning (13 December 2016) over the three-year old EU regulatory proposal to overhaul its trade defence legislation has been sent back to the European Parliament after two years of deadlock. It is set to face a rough ride there. Meanwhile, with …
EU Japan FTA: Japanese and European digital industries call for progress on data flows
The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association and the business association Digital Europe are pressing the EU Commission to accept inking a deal on data flows in the e-commerce chapter of the EU Japan free trade agreement currently under negotiation. The three year-old FTA talks are being revived as …
TDI: hopes for final compromise this week as market economy status deadline missed
EU member states have failed to reach a final compromise on the package of measures aimed at overhauling trade defence instrument legislation to accommodate for the planned end of the analogue country methodology currently applied to China. Member states had hoped to so by Sunday 11 December 2016, the expiry date, …
China MES : what member states are still working on
Member states have been working hard to reach a compromise package on overhauling EU trade defence law ahead of the long-awaited 11 December deadline enshrined in China’s WTO accession protocol obliging its partners to let go of the analogue country methodology applied to (former) planned economies, or ‘non market economies’. …
