The leader of the Belgian region of Wallonia, Paul Magnette, who is also an academic, orchestrated a declaration on trade policy by leading professors across the West entitled the Namur Declaration. The three-page text, released on Monday (5 December 2016) calls for greater scrutiny of trade agreements by national and regional parliaments in …
North America
Belgium to request opinion on ICS from ECJ after Singapore ruling
The Belgians are fighting internal tussles over how to follow up on the internal compromise achieved between the federal government, the Flemish regional bodies and the Wallonians ahead of the signature of the EU Canada trade pact CETA early November this year. Charles Michel has tabled a motion in …
What a Trump presidency could mean for trade policy and the EU – two expert views
We still don’t know exactly what the next US president, Donald Trump, will do on trade policy. Mr Trump has campaigned on a highly protectionist and trade-sceptic platform. He has vowed to raise substantial tariffs on imports from Mexico and from China. He even suggested he might want to pull …
In brief: Fresh insights into TTIP state of play
The Commission has published the list of documents related to the TTIP negotiations that it has circulated to the member states and the European Parliament. The move came ahead of a visit by trade commissioner Malmström to Washington on Monday to take stock of TTIP as these are expected to go into …
CETA ratification in EU Parliament to face delay
The European Parliament intended to rush through the ratification of the much-contested CETA agreement before Christmas. After having rejected a motion for a resolution by rebel centre-left MEPs to put CETA to scrutiny at the Court of Justice on Wednesday, the hope of a swift ratification faded quickly. There …
EU and Mexico hold second round of free trade negotiations – in shadow of Trump and Brexit
This week, the EU and Mexico have been holding a second round of negotiations to upgrade their fifteen year old free trade agreement. The two sides have so far talked mainly about the scope and format of talks, little about actual substance. The UK’s exit from the EU and the election of …
Strong far right support for failed CETA ECJ referral resolution
VoteWatch.eu has released the details of yesterday’s (23 November 2016) vote on a resolution requesting the European Parliament to ask the Court of Justice to verify the legal compatibility of the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) proponents hope to see come into force provisionally in early 2017. The left-wing move has …
In brief: Obama and Merkel on TTIP
Still talking about TTIP? Well TTIP, the controversial transatlatantic trade agreement launched in 2013 is not for now. With Donald Trump just elected as US president, the Obama administration winding down and the French and Germans bracing for difficult elections next year. Yet the two most powerful players in the TTIP game …
Updated: trade in the Parliament 21-24 November
The European Parliament is sitting in a plenary session from 21 t0 24 November 2016. A few agenda highlights: The Parliament will vote on a package of measures to combat wildlife trafficking on Tuesday (22 November). The report by MEP Catherine Bearder broadly endorses a plan presented by the Commission. It calls …
Mexico and Uganda alcoholic beverages laws in EU limelight
The EU is looking after its alcoholic beverages industry in the WTO, the latest WTO meeting on technical barriers to trade reveals. The Commission is putting pressure on Colombia with a pending case on its domestic laws on alcoholic beverage marketing arrangements and taxes. Is it now setting its sights on Mexico and …
