EU FTAs & bilateral ties
Week in Brussels: Brazil retaliates, New Zealand, FTAs, Myanmar
This week’s special focus has been transatlantic trade negotiations (here and here) and Brexit-related British trade policy (here, here, here). But we also got an update on EU Taiwan relations. Below other noteworthy news or updates. Brazil retaliates against EU steel safeguards We are facing another episode in the global steel trade …
Commission hopes for swift mandate for US trade talks – debate on fish, speed and WTO continues
Member state trade ministers gathered in the Romanian capital Bucharest today to take stock of current European Union trade files. The most pressing issue on the table was the EU-US trade relationship. But capitals also discussed the way forward for the World Trade Organization and other bilateral trade files. Despite …
EU Taiwan under-the-radar relations deepen but leave Taipei hungry for more
The European Commission’s 2015 Trade For All strategy promised Taiwan a bilateral investment agreement. Almost four years on, there is no sign of any such deal. There was indeed one caveat in trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s promise to Taipei: a similar deal with Beijing needed concluding first. Yet the conclusion of …
Sign up and pay up, EU tells Switzerland
European Union relations with Switzerland are not exactly the easiest at the moment. Following significant political pressure on Bern, the two sides concluded a new agreement last December setting up an overarching framework to their complex maze of bilateral agreements that cover areas ranging from trade to judicial cooperation. But …
Centre-right MEPs support EU US trade talks, over-rule INTA chief
MEPs in the international trade committee voted today on a report that will help guide member states of the European Union decide whether to launch trade negotiations with the United States.
Week in Brussels: Trade Valentine, US auto tariffs, low-risk ILUC
There’s been loads of trade love going on in the twittosphere this week…. Alas, trade is largely a loveless type of environment…. A former European Commission negotiator once said that trade negotiations are “as unsentimental as war”. He said this from his experience in office in the middle of the …
New EU investment screening rules – an explainer
The European Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority today in favour of an EU-wide investment screening mechanism. Here the main points of the new piece of legislation.
EP: Singapore trade pact does less well than EPA with Japan, better than CETA
The European Parliament gave its assent to the EU Singapore free trade agreement, to a separate investment protection agreement, and to a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement today. The trade pact did less well than the EU Japan Economic Partnership Agreement voted in last December. The Singapore FTA received 425 votes …
Blog: 750 mn euros Italian auto sector losses and other trade numbers
Tired of gloomy trade news? Let’s have some fun today. Here four numbers worth playing around with this week. 750 000 000 That’s the number of US $ worth of economic output Italy alone could lose should the United States close off its market to German autos and parts. The …
