[sh_light_text ]The new year festivities in Europe are over. In 2015 the EU will face a busy trade policy agenda and some daunting challenges in fulfilling its objectives and promoting its interests. We outline some of them.[/sh_light_text]
Ukraine, Russia & CIS
Latvian foreign minister calls for visa liberalisation and support for Belarus WTO accession as EU reassesses neighbourhood policy
[sh_light_text ]Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs , who was in Brussels on Monday, called for a clear commitment to support Europe’s eastern neighbours in the coming months as the Baltic state prepares to take over the EU’s member state council presidency. He stressed in particular the need to start talking about visa …
EU not yet ready to talk to Eurasian Economic Union as WTO cases mount
[sh_light_text ]Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, recently talked favourably of the idea of launching free trade talks with the Eurasian economic union (EEU). The EEU is due to come into force in January and deepen economic ties between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, the project’s main champion. But there are no signs Brussels is moving …
Comment: Moldova after DCFTA ratification: watch the gas trade, the banks, and, yes, look out for tanks
All eyes are on the Ukraine crisis these days. Today, EU leaders are preparing to issue a new list of individuals active in the breakaway regions of Donbass who will be barred from entering the EU and whose assets will be frozen. But what about Moldova? Without a more thorough strategy to strengthen the …
Russia warns Ukraine and EU not to implement Association Agreement
This article was first published by Business New Europe, our editorial Partner. Russian economy minister Aleksei Ulyukaev has warned Ukraine and the EU in a letter not to implement their Association Agreement signed on September 15. Otherwise Russia will place restrictions on its trade with Ukraine. Postponement of implementation of the …
Implementation of EU Ukraine DCFTA postponed until December 2015
On Friday the EU announced it had decided with Ukraine to postpone until December 2015 the implementation of the free trade agreement (DCFTA) they inked last June. The announcement had come after a day of tripartite discussions between Brussels, Kyiv and Moscow over the implementation of the deal.
EU Ukraine DCFTA : EU ready to agree to significant carve-outs
[sh_light_text ]The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes this morning that the EU is ready to accept that large swaths of the 1500-page long deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) signed this spring with Ukraine will not come into force. [/sh_light_text] Today, officials from Ukraine, Russia and the EU are holding a meeting to reach …
Business & European sanctions against Russia: the uncertainty factor
[sh_light_text ]EU exports to Russia have plummeted. This is not only because of this year’s EU sanctions and Russian import bans. Russia is having a recession. But the direct cost of sanctions has to do with the fact that they create a general sense of uncertainty, thus holding back business decisions, writes Iana Dreyer.[/sh_light_text]
EU Parliament to ratify EU Ukraine DCFTA this month
The European Union (EU) parliament’s trade committee (INTA) agreed today to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the trade deal (DCFTA) that is embedded in it, in an unusual fast-track procedure. The aim is to ratify the deal signed last June simultaneously with Ukraine, in a sign of support for the country.
EU Ukraine DCFTA vs Eurasian customs union: flexibilities on technical standards implementation in sight
[sh_light_text ]During a summit in Minsk this week German Chancellor Angela Merkel provoked an outcry when she told Russian President Vladimir Putin that she wouldn’t raise objections if Ukraine decided to join the Eurasian Union, the regional economic and political project championed by Moscow. Commentators in Europe have seen this …
