It will be an all-nighter for Paul Magnette ahead of an EU trade ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today (18 October 2016). But the deadline to approve CETA as planned will most likely be missed. The minister president of the region of Wallonia is holding up the approval by Belgium of the …
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
Steel industry calls for US-style ‘non standard methodology’ to treat future Chinese exports
Council members will not only try to reach an agreement to sign CETA at a pencilled in EU Canada summit next week. They will also discuss EU plans to overhaul its antidumping legislation ahead of a planned move to grant China market economy treatment. And the steel industry is watching …
CETA: the very final countdown
So this morning Paul Magnette, the minister president of Wallonia, has announced he would order the federal government of Belgium not to sign CETA later this month. The federal government is bound by this. So is it over for CETA? At a first glance, yes. Are there any ways …
CETA: all eyes on Belgium
Today all eyes are on Belgium as the Wallonian parliament, with a majority of deputies having pronounced themselves against CETA, is to rule today (Fridat 14 October 2016) whether it will bloc signature of the EU Canadian trade deal. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has warned Wallonians that such …
German constitutional court greenlights signature and provisional application of CETA
The powerful constitutional court of Germany has rejected a series of NGO requests to have it block the German government from greenlighting the signature of the Canada EU trade agreement CETA scheduled for next week (18 October 2016). It also refused to give an injunction to the German government to refuse provisional …
Green MEP José Bové barred from entering Canada
This article was updated on 13 October 2016. Could this incident become an embarrassment for the government in Ottawa which risks complicating an already complicated adoption and ratification process for CETA? It will certainly give further fodder to anti CETA activists. José Bové, a colourful MEP from the Greens group, an …
CETA declaration has “legal value” – EU chief negotiator
Dismissed as hot air by many CETA critics, given its ‘interpretative’ nature – and because it does not alter the agreement – the ‘declaration’ the EU and Canada are currently drafting to allay concerns of trade critics in the EU and increase the chances that the trade agreement with Canada is approved …
In brief: One more week to CETA approval
The EU’s member states will decide next week (18 October 2016) whether to endorse a groundbreaking trade agreement with Canada. The deal has to be endorsed by all member states, then ratified by the EU Parliament and the 28 national legislatures. Next week the Council needs to give the green light …
Brexit: UK-China FTA could threaten German, Slovakian car industry – study
A new study by the think tank Bruegel believes that, should the UK sign a free trade agreement with China, its car industry could gain a significant advantage over its EU based competitors – especially in Germany and Slovakia. The more so if the UK stays in the single market after …
EU Japan FTA: Japanese music industry seeks more copyright protections
The Japan Council of Performers Rights and Performing Arts Organizations and the Recording Industry Association of Japan are lobbying for increased copyright protection in the EU Japan free trade agreement currently under negotiation. Trade Commissioner Malmström is trying to placate them. In a letter to the organizations early October (7 …
