EU FTAs & bilateral ties
Comment: EU Mercosur trade talks – (plus) ça change?
Comment: EU Japan – two reasons why it’s so difficult
Whether the EU Japan summit on 28 and 29 May will genuinely boost to faltering free trade talks remains uncertain, as the transpacific partnership trade negotiations with Washington Tokyo is involved in will take precedence. By Iana Dreyer.
In brief: Riga Summit – fading hopes of European destiny for Eastern partners
The Riga Eastern Partnership summit to be held on May 21 and 22 is set to dampen hopes of deeper ties of the EU’s most fervently europhile Eastern Partners. We’ve seen the draft conclusions of the event. Extensive details with BNE Intellinews, selected take-aways below.
Comment: Labour mobility – EU neighbourhood policy’s new approach wrong-footed
Ahead of important EU meetings this week, namely the Riga Summit with Eastern partners and a new round of trade talks with Morocco, here a long-read on why one of the cornerstones of the EU’s neighbourhood policy overhaul – to limit migration – is flawed economically, politically, and morally. The text explains why the EU must be much …
In brief: EU to seek mandate to start negotiations of customs union upgrade with Turkey
The EU Commission has announced today that it will formally seek a mandate from EU member states to launch trade negotiations aiming to upgrade and modernise its existing customs union with Turkey, which came into force in 1996. The customs union only covers trade in industrial goods. Turkey is is also …
In brief: EU Mexico to launch FTA upgrade negotiations
Reviving EU ASEAN free trade talks – how to succeed this time round
The EU is considering reviving region-wide free trade negotiations with ASEAN. If Brussels is not to fail again in this endeavour as it did a few years ago, a fresh, flexible approach, to negotiations, respectful of local political realities, is overdue. The more so as the EU has significantly lost …
Perspective: Ukraine & EU DCFTA talks with Russia could peter out
The EU-Ukraine summit of 27 April 2015 in Kyiv is set to be reality-check for the bilateral relationship. This meeting takes place as Ukraine is on the brink of bankruptcy and there are signs that Russia could step up military activity in Eastern Ukraine this summer. The EU is unhappy with the pace of …
In brief: Very limited progress in sight in trilateral trade talks over Ukraine DCFTA
Updated. This week, trilateral talks involving Ukraine, the EU and Russia over Ukraine’s implementation of the trade pillar (DCFTA) of its Association Agreement with the EU – the deal that triggered the Ukraine crisis – have shown very limited signs of progress. At the very least, they have failed to satisfy the Russian government.
