Italy’s new coalition government is pushing a protectionist agenda that puts national sovereignty at the centre and may well set the country on a collision course with Brussels, Berlin and Paris, argues Nicola Casarini. The new government in Rome is promoting ‘Italy First’, a set of policies that may undermine …
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
Week ahead in EU trade: Juncker-Trump, Mercosur, Brexit
Things are starting to wind down on the trade front before the summer recess. Some news – or at least official remarks, if not tweets – can be expected from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Juncker will seek to sidestep …
(What) a Week in Brussels: Trump, Airbus, CETA, no-deal Brexit
It’s as if everything absolutely had to happen before everyone goes on holiday: inking a deal with Japan, holding a summit with China that actually delivers on a joint statement, launching a WTO reform initiative, introducing steel safeguards, slapping dumping duties on electric bikes and making progress on Mercosur negotiations. …
Mercosur talks gain new momentum, though endgame still elusive
EU-Mercosur free trade negotiations gained new momentum during day-and-a-half talks among seven South American ministers and EU negotiators in Brussels. No deal was clinched, but diplomats on the Mercosur side say the ‘endgame’ is within reach. “The talks are going well,” European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström said today. The parties …
Flash: EU Mercosur FTA ministerial meeting sees progress
We at Borderlex tend to be prudent in making any predictions on final stages of difficult FTA negotiations: situations can be fickle. And it’s still very early to say anything firm about the EU Mercosur negotiations. The talks are in their final stages and the parties have been seeking an …
EU-Japan deal gets warm welcome, despite sense of unfinished business
The EU and Japan signed their long-awaited economic partnership agreement in Tokyo today. The deal was flanked by announcements that both sides had finalised work to recognise each other’s data privacy regimes – also called ‘adequacy decisions’ – to complement the trade agreement. The moves were well received in policy …
Section 232: US brings dispute on EU, Chinese ‘rebalancing’ measures to WTO
Washington has hit back at five World Trade Organization members for “illegal” tariffs that were imposed on US products in response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply duties on foreign steel and aluminium. The US announcement today that it had filed five complaints targeting the EU, China, Canada, Mexico and …
EU-China summit: Beijing and Brussels pull together on investment and trade
This is probably a knock-on effect of the United States administration’s recent international policies ranging from Iran to climate change and trade: the EU and China managed for the first time in three years to release a joint statement after their summer annual summit. The 13-page document details areas – …
EU signs China up to WTO reform
The EU is stepping up the pace in bringing forward a World Trade Organization reform agenda announced this spring as the crisis over Appellate Body nominations deepens in Geneva and the world entered the turbulent waters of tit-for-tat trade retaliation in the aftermath of the US decision to impose unilateral …
Week ahead in EU trade: Mercosur, New Zealand, Brexit, China, Japan, Appellate Body
This is a week of summits and negotiations: the EU will start talks with New Zealand, continue discussions with Mercosur and hold high-level meetings with China and Japan (delayed from last week). And toward the end of the week, when the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body meets, we might …
