[sh_light_text ]Hopes a planned EU-Vietnam free trade deal would be clinched at the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) this week in Italy were dashed when both sides announced they were hoping to conclude the deal “in the next few months”. Despite Hanoi’s and Brussels’ declared optimism, an early conclusion of the talks is …
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
EU-China investment treaty talks may face bumpy road
[sh_light_text ]The EU and China are discussing their planned bilateral investment treaty on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Italy this week. Both want to conclude an agreement that mutually opens markets and better protects investors’ rights. But negotiations will likely be protracted and Beijing does not appear to prioritise this deal with Brussels, Jennifer Freedman …
Gaining attention: New Zealand’s quest for a free trade agreement with the EU
New Zealand is pressing the European Union (EU) to begin free trade negotiations. The chances the request will succeed are better today than a decade ago, when Wellington first approached Brussels, Iana Dreyer has found out.
Russia warns Ukraine and EU not to implement Association Agreement
This article was first published by Business New Europe, our editorial Partner. Russian economy minister Aleksei Ulyukaev has warned Ukraine and the EU in a letter not to implement their Association Agreement signed on September 15. Otherwise Russia will place restrictions on its trade with Ukraine. Postponement of implementation of the …
Implementation of EU Ukraine DCFTA postponed until December 2015
On Friday the EU announced it had decided with Ukraine to postpone until December 2015 the implementation of the free trade agreement (DCFTA) they inked last June. The announcement had come after a day of tripartite discussions between Brussels, Kyiv and Moscow over the implementation of the deal.
EU Ukraine DCFTA : EU ready to agree to significant carve-outs
[sh_light_text ]The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes this morning that the EU is ready to accept that large swaths of the 1500-page long deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) signed this spring with Ukraine will not come into force. [/sh_light_text] Today, officials from Ukraine, Russia and the EU are holding a meeting to reach …
Business & European sanctions against Russia: the uncertainty factor
[sh_light_text ]EU exports to Russia have plummeted. This is not only because of this year’s EU sanctions and Russian import bans. Russia is having a recession. But the direct cost of sanctions has to do with the fact that they create a general sense of uncertainty, thus holding back business decisions, writes Iana Dreyer.[/sh_light_text]
Blog: Contours of CETA – in brief
This week, the European chief negotiator of the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA), Mauro Petriccione, gave an overview of the deal to members of the European parliament. For those who haven’t had time to listen in, here some take-aways:
EU Parliament to ratify EU Ukraine DCFTA this month
The European Union (EU) parliament’s trade committee (INTA) agreed today to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the trade deal (DCFTA) that is embedded in it, in an unusual fast-track procedure. The aim is to ratify the deal signed last June simultaneously with Ukraine, in a sign of support for the country.
EU Ukraine DCFTA vs Eurasian customs union: flexibilities on technical standards implementation in sight
[sh_light_text ]During a summit in Minsk this week German Chancellor Angela Merkel provoked an outcry when she told Russian President Vladimir Putin that she wouldn’t raise objections if Ukraine decided to join the Eurasian Union, the regional economic and political project championed by Moscow. Commentators in Europe have seen this …
