In this week’s think tank column: carbon border adjustment, digital services trade and ‘strategic autonomy’.
EU Carbon Border Measure
In brief: CBAM vote in plenary postponed
The attempt at building compromise positions between the environment committee and other political groups last week ahead of today’s vote on on a range of climate measures – including the EU’s carbon border adjustment measure – has failed. At today’s plenary session MEPs failed to adopt CBAM and referred it …
MEP Karin Karlsbro tables earlier CBAM kick-off
The European Parliament is bracing for a battle over the date of coming into force of the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism and related phase-out of domestic free emissions trading allowances. Other issues MEPs will fight over in the CBAM file are the final use of the money the EU …
IISD: Canada, EU should seek negotiated agreement on border carbon adjustment
Canada is preparing to introduce a carbon border adjustment measure whose contours are not yet known. Canada and the European Union vowed at a bilateral summit mid-June to “exchange on respective approaches to carbon pricing and WTO-compatible border carbon adjustments”. A think tank is now making concrete proposals on how …
EU Turkey customs union upgrade conversation begins amidst CBAM concerns
Brussels and Ankara are sitting down for two days on Thursday and Friday (8 & 9 July) for the annual meeting of their 1995 EU Turkey customs union joint committee. Among others, they will re-start a conversation on modernising their trade arrangements.
EU, Japan to boost joint digital, climate, WTO and supply chain resilience work
The European Union and Japan held a bilateral summit on Thursday (27 May 2021), which ostensibly aimed to give new impetus to an already rich and diverse economic and political relationship.
‘Climate First’ European Parliament CBAM report watered down by free CO2 emission allowance vote
The European Parliament voted by a large majority on a report on a coming European Union ‘carbon border adjustment measure’ at a time when the United States and the EU are pulling out feelers to gauge the scope for joint global climate cooperation. The message rapporteur from the Greens group …
Week in Brussels: MEP scrutiny of EU-UK TCA, carbon border measure, Korean surimi
EU UK TCA: European Parliament wants more scrutiny powers and more time European Parliament committees scrutinised the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement this week. The series of meetings culminated in a joint meeting of the foreign affairs and international trade committee on Thursday. This kick-starts a formalised consent procedure involving …
Week in Brussels: New Zealand, US countervails free EU CO2 emissions rights
It is quite a momentous week for trade in general and trade policy in the European Union in particular, with the future partnership agreement with the United Kingdom in the final stages of negotiation and indications that perhaps there might be ‘white smoke’ on a hitherto elusive EU China investment …
EU carbon border measure: initial political battle lines drawn up
The debate over next year’s announced European Union ‘Carbon Border Adjustment Measure’ is slowly gearing up. While nobody knows what measure will be put forward in the end – what we already know now is that it portends a major political battle next year over the future of existing EU …
