News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
The new year begins rather slowly, but with optimism that the EU and Mexico will soon manage to clinch their updated trade deal. The eighth round of talks will be held this week in Mexico after the two sides failed to secure the modernised accord before Christmas. Following the …
Happy New Year, dear subscribers! The year 2018 will offer a very narrow window of opportunity to bring key EU trade policy files forward. On the EU’s plate this year: finalise trade negotiations with Mexico and Mercosur, get key trade agreements with Singapore, Vietnam and Japan through the European …
There will be no modernised trade deal with Mexico for Christmas. Despite having personally spent three days in Brussels, economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo hasnt managed to break the deadlock over some of the most contentious outstanding issues in the negotiations, namely geographical indications and investment protection. The modernisation of …
The clock is ticking as the EU and Mexico work to secure a framework to upgrade their 17-year-old trade agreement by the end of the month. The two sides made progress on issues including market access and intellectual property during their sixth round of discussions in November, and negotiators held …
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Brussels yesterday, and trade was a formal talking point on the agenda for his meetings with Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief. But nothing came out on that meeting on this topic. While trans-Atlantic cooperation on trade is largely off the …
This week could seal the fate of quite a few EU trade policy files: the overhaul of the EU’s dumping regulation, the EU Mercosur trade deal and the Brexit talks. TDI reform agreement? Expectations are high that the EU will announce a deal tomorrow on the overhaul of …
This is a big week for EU trade negotiators, who will be putting their collective noses to the grindstone as they work toward a year-end goal to clinch agreements with Mexico and Mercosur. Momentum is building for the parties to be able to announce at the World Trade Organization’s December …
Welcome to a new weekly column ‘A week in Brussels’ with the highlights of the trade week in Brussels. I hope you enjoy it! The trade week in Brussels ends with an understated Eastern Partnership summit. It brings together of a group of disparate countries traumatised by the Ukraine crisis …
The EU and Mexico are holding technical talks this week ahead of a formal new round of negotiations later this month. The pressure is on both sides to conclude talks to modernise their 2000 trade agreement – which is folded into what is known as the Global Agreement. Significant challenges …
The French government announced an ‘action plan’ on the EU Canada CETA agreement on Wednesday (25 October 2017). A deep dive into the 20-page document reveals how Macron’s government is manoeuvring to make highly contested trade agreements back home palatable to his party base and the electorate when it puts …
