Plans towards a European Chips Act are maturing. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced a new regulation mirroring similarly named recent United States legislation will be tabled as soon as early February. Brussels’ move in the semiconductor sector heralds a much more politically controlled approach to supply chain …
EU digital
EU and Singapore to prepare the ground for digital partnership talks
The EU and Singapore will soon formally start preparing the ground to start negotiations towards a digital partnership agreement. These ‘scoping’ talks will be held within the framework of an already existing two-year-old bilateral free trade agreement and form part of a dedicated working group under the deal’s Joint Committee.
US, five European countries bury hatchet over digital services taxes and related tariff threats
The United States and the five European countries that have enacted digital services taxes agreed a tax-and-tariff truce during USTR Katherine Tai’s ongoing visit to Europe and ahead of Friday’s G7 trade ministers meeting in the United Kingdom.
EU US Trade and Tech transparency efforts meet cautious welcome from consumer groups
“Lessons of TTIP have been learned,” said Monique Goyens, the director-general of the highly influential EU consumer protection organisation BEUC at an online webinar last Wednesday (13 October 2021).
EU to seek deeper digital trade ties with Indo-Pacific partners
The European Commission and External Action Service are planning to unveil a proposal to start Digital Economy Partnership Agreement negotiations with Korea, Japan and Singapore as part of the European Union’s new Indo-Pacific strategy. The EU is also considering launching data privacy legislation “adequacy” negotiations with India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, …
Business calls for abandoning EU digital levy
The European Commission’s plans to press ahead with a ‘digital levy’ despite agreement at international level on taxation of companies trading across borders is not only annoying the United States, but also the European Union’s very own corporate sector, which fears trade retaliation and loss of competitiveness.
INTERVIEW – EU-US relations and the digital economy: politics, tech or trade?
The Biden administration is genuinely committed to a partnership with the European Union on issues related to the digital economy. But making new ‘trade and tech’ initiatives announced in the wake of the EU-US summit work will require swift movement and a lot of resources. A conversation with Frances Burwell.
Trade and digital after the EU-US summit: what to expect?
The announcement of a new EU-US Trade and Technology Council at the EU-US summit in Brussels this week was generally well received by relevant stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic. But the new transatlantic body is still merely a concept on paper – and little is known about how …
Week in Brussels: UK Contact Group, Vietnam FTA, digital platform sellouts
European Parliament sets up new UK Contact Group; EU Vietnam civil society dialogue postponed until further notice; France, Germany and Netherlands want even tougher rules on company takeovers by digital platforms.
US digital tax postponement raises hopes for positive EU-US summit
The European Union and the United States are preparing to host their first bilateral summit in years, with president Biden coming in person to Brussels mid-June to seek to boost the transatlantic relationship. The political noises around a variety of ‘trade’ and ‘trade-and-tech’ files that will make it to the …