Canada and the EU hosted their first CETA Joint Committee meeting. The committee’s role is to oversee the implementation of the trade agreement. In fact, the meeting mainly dealt with demands made on it which are not in the treaty.
Environment, labour, human rights – regulations
A week in Brussels: Mercosur, dairy, sustainable development chapters
It’s been an intense week on transatlantic trade and Brexit trade front. Below, other interesting bits of news in EU trade. EU-Mercosur focus A lot of noise, little extra substance on EU-Mercosur free trade talks this week. Next week, European negotiators will fly to South America for a 36th round …
A week in Brussels: China, sanctionable TSD chapters, think tanks
Two big countries dominated the agenda on trade in Brussels this week: the United States and China. Both topics are not unrelated. In this regard, a lot happened in the WTO – see Jennifer’s stories here, here and here. Another topic that has kept EU leaders busy is the bloc’s …
ASEAN: An afterthought in EU trade policy?
There’s about one year to go before its top leadership gets renewed. Yet the European Commission risks missing out on the early harvest it reaped in its free trade agreement negotiations with ASEAN members in the first years of this legislature, writes Iana Dreyer. The EU’s executive is trying …
Enforcing environment and labour in FTAs: EU Commission announces 15 new steps
Proponents of giving equal weight to labour and environment provisions in relation to commercial commitments in the EU’s free trade agreements were disappointed. On Tuesday, the European Commission ended a six-month consultation process with nongovernmental organisations and business by releasing a ‘non paper’ on how to strengthen so-called trade and …
Comment: Member states prop up trade policy as foreign affairs, climate instrument
Foreign affairs ministers met today in Sofia to take decisions on a variety of difficult foreign affairs files. The picture isn’t rosy, with Syria, Venezuela or Myanmar on top of leaders’ agenda. The Foreign Affairs Council also devised a few new conclusions on the EU’s climate diplomacy. The use …
Mercosur in German NGO limelight
The EU is in the final stages of free trade negotiations with the South American bloc Mercosur. It is readying for the adoption of a new trade agreement with Japan and Vietnam. Anti trade agreement campaign groups have recently stepped up their activities to fight these agreements. A joint …
Week ahead in EU trade: Indonesia, Mercosur, Brexit, ‘conflict’ minerals, Vietnam
It’s going to be a packed week in Brussels, with everything from continuing trade talks with Mercosur and Indonesia and a new round of Brexit negotiations. And the European Parliament’s trade committee will also have a couple of busy days this week. EU, Indonesia to exchange tariff offers …
EESC resolution adds to pressure on FTA partners to respect ILO conventions
The European Economic and Social Council almost unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday calling on the EU to step up its efforts to give greater weight to labour and environment chapters – known as TSD chapters – in its free trade agreements. This move adds to a rising number of calls on …
Bernd Lange takes the long view
In an interview with Borderlex, the European Parliament’s international trade committee chief Bernd Lange explains what he hopes to achieve before the European elections next year.
