When TTIP talks were launched in 2013, Europeans were keen to tap into the United States oil and gas bonanza resulting from the country’s shale revolution to help reduce prices and shake off the continent’s too-heavy reliance on Russian hydrocarbons. But now US shale gas is arrriving in Europe, regardless of …
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
After Canada & US, Mexico next in EU North America free trade pipeline
EU member states are expected to give the green light to negotiations to upgrade a fifteen-year-old free trade agreement between the EU and Mexico. Iana Dreyer outlines what is at stake in the talks.
Brexit, EU, trade: What’s in it for Africa?
Would a United Kingdom that has left the EU be able to deepen trade ties with the Commonwealth, as many ‘Brexit’ proponents argue? Uzo Madu walks us through the arguments from a a specifically African perspective. A first version of this piece appeared on her website What’s In It for Africa.
TTIP less consensual than it seems in Central and Eastern Europe
Support for TTIP in Central and Eastern Europe, though it remains strong, is no longer as consensual as it used to be. A closer look at opinion polls and MEP votes by Iana Dreyer.
COMMENT: TTIP – averting a train wreck
TTIP talks are in deep trouble. The best US and EU leaders can achieve this year is averting an outright train wreck. A comment by Iana Dreyer. Photo credit: German government/Bergman
EU importers call for free trade deal with China
In a move that goes against the current political climate in the EU vis-à-vis China, the EU’s top association of retailers is calling for a free trade agreement with China.
EU African EPAs in limbo
The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements – or EPAs – with sub-Saharan countries inked a few years ago are not getting off the ground as African governments don’t like their EU-inspired rules on raw materials policies. African countries are also currently prioritising continent-wide regional integration. By Iana Dreyer.
Dutch Ukraine referendum: EU ability to sign international treaties at stake
The Dutch no vote in a referendum over the EU’s Association Agreement with Ukraine held on 6 April 2016 will not likely jeopardise the agreement itself. But it puts the EU’s credibility in the neighbourhood at risk, most likely kills off enlargement policy, and questions the EU’s ability to sign …
Russian trade restrictions on EU, Ukraine, Turkey “a flop”
Russia’s trade sanctions on the West, Ukraine and Turkey in 2014, and Moscow’s parallel policies attempting to substitute for imports and boost local production are not bearing much fruit, argues Ben Aris from BNE Intellinews in a new piece analysing the freshest Russian trade data.
BIG READ – PART 3 – China MES, the steel crisis, and the EU
Continued from Part 2.
