The European Parliament is preparing to back the launch of customs union talks with Turkey but is engaging in a careful balancing act on human rights. The European Parliament’s trade committee is preparing a report on the planned launch of negotiations with Turkey to upgrade the EU’s existing customs …
Turkey & Med
EU in drive to patch up relations with Morocco in wake of Western Sahara trade row
Although last December the Court of Justice of the EU overturned an earlier ruling that invalidated the suspension of a 2012 bilateral agreement between the EU and Morocco on trade in agriculture and fisheries, the damage the case brought to relations between Brussels and Rabat is not quite yet repaired …
Commission: Member states need to meet two Turkish demands to secure customs union deal
On Friday (03 February 2017) member states discussed EU plans to modernise its economic relationships with Turkey. In December, the Commission requested a negotiating mandate from the member states to modernise the more than 20-year-old customs union that binds the two neighbours. The move, though less controversial in principle than EU accession …
Commission to request mandate for EU Turkey customs union modernisation
The Commission has decided to move ahead with a long-sizzling project to launch negotiations towards the modernisation of the 1995 customs union with Turkey. The move is largely a way to keep up relationships with Turkey as its recently restarted EU accession processed stalled again, not least after German Chancellor …
ECJ upholds EU Morocco trade agreement in appeal ruling
The Court of Justice of the EU supported the Council in its appeal to a December 2015 tribunal ruling that annulled a 2012 trade agreement between the EU and Morocco liberalising trade in agriculture and fisheries. The case was brought by the Polisario Front and brought forward the risk of …
EU Turkey customs union: agriculture and coup aftermath in trade committee limelight
The trade committee of the European Parliament discussed current plans to launch negotiations with Turkey to modernise the existing two-decade old customs union between the EU and its big southern neighbour: the process faces challenges, both political and related to bread-and-butter market access issues. The Commission hopes to table …
Will the European Parliament’s Turkey accession vote jeopardise the customs union update?
The European Parliament has made sure there is even more bad blood in the EU-Turkey relationship than already is. On Thursday (24 November 2016), 77 percent of MEPs called to a halt to recently re-initiated EU membership accession negotiations as part of a non binding resolution. The accession talks, initiated in 2005, but …
CJEU: Advocate General slams 2015 Morocco trade agreement ruling
The EU Council has increased its chances to win an appeal against a ruling by the General Court in December 2015 that invalidated a 2012 EU trade agreement with Morocco because it purportedly did not take into account human rights considerations in the territory of Western Sahara. The Advocate General’s opinion released today …
Jordan garment exporters to benefit from more flexible EU rules of origin
To help Jordan cope with a massive influx of refugees from Syria by integrating them in the local labour market and hiring them in dedicated special industrial zones, the EU will ease the conditions under which Jordan may export goods duty-free to the EU. The move was made official during …
EU Turkey customs union : Commission hopes for mandate on upgrade in late 2016
The process leading up to the formal launch of the planned negotiations to modernise the EU-Turkey customs union is taking shape, Cecilia Mallström told the Parliament’s trade committee today. “We have high ambitions”, Malmström said. “The goal is to have services, procurement – for the first time – and go …
