If one is to believe Charles Michel, Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen, today’s online Leaders’ Meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping was productive.
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
EU-US: Dombrovskis hopes to build on lobster-lighters deal momentum
There is a small hiatus in EU trade policy as the European Commission awaits final confirmation of Valdis Dombrovskis as the next commissioner in charge of trade policy. But the Latvian top commission executive has played his care-taker role in full since late August and taken charge of the EU’s …
Week in Brussels: EU-UK roundup, Angola, pigmeat and wheat
After an extended summer break, our Week in Brussels column is back in action to wrap up busy weeks in European Union trade. This week : EU-UK, Angola joining the EU SADC EPA and the good COVID-19 crisis for some EU agrifood exports.
China turns up volume on EU business environment for its companies
A report by the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union reveals a few key Beijing ‘asks’ in current negotiations as EU China meetings and negotiations are set to intensify this autumn.
Cambodia’s garment manufacturers sue EU over preference withdrawal
This summer, the European Commission withdrew trade preferences granted to Cambodia. Cambodia benefited from duty-free-quota free trade under the EU’s Everything-But-Arms aimed at the world’s poorest countries. The partial withdrawal affects one fifth of the the South East Asian country’s garment and shoes exports. Despite calls this summer to take …
WTO Corner: Brussels appeals into void in Russia case, EU steel safeguard goes to court
MPIA state of play EU appeals ‘into void’ in Russia anti-dumping dispute To many, the move will seem highly ironic. The EU is not pleased with a July WTO panel ruling regarding anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate and steel pipes in a case filed by Russia – so it is …
New Paneuromed rules of origin to start applying without Morocco and Tunisia
Simplifying rules of origin for the hub-and-spoke preferential trade arrangements in the European Union’s neighbourhood is anything but a simple exercise. The renegotiation of the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin – the PEM convention – has been going on for a decade. It aims at introducing a …
EU China economic dialogue held amidst rising human rights concerns
It’s very rare to hold two High Level Economic Dialogues between the EU and China within two months – the last one was on 10 June. But the times are exceptional enough to warrant it. The two sides did not release a joint statement after the meeting. But the European …
EU faces appeal dilemma after anti-dumping method loss at WTO against Russia
On Friday a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel established at the behest of Russia ruled that the European Union’s ‘cost adjustment methodology’ relating to how it accounts for raw material input costs on exports of products it deems ‘dumped’ was not compliant with the global trade rule-book. The ruling …
Week in Brussels: Airbus subsidies, TDI, corporate responsibility, Moldova, Corona
In many ways this has been a week full of trade defence news: the first European Court of Auditors report on EU trade defence policy was released this week, and Turkey decided to go to court in Geneva over the EU’s steel safeguard. There is also the ever-simmering tariff guerilla …
