The first draft of the European Parliament’s report on the EU’s current plans to overhaul its 2009 dual use export regulation goes further than the Commission’s initial proposals. The new dual use export control policy of the EU will expand export licensing requirements for certain technologies to situations where exports could …
EU Climate, Environment, Labour, Human Rights
Philippines FTA: EU lets go on talks
The EU Commission is putting free trade talks with the Philippines on halt. In practice, this means it is not setting a new date for a new round of free trade negotiations given concerns over the country’s human rights record. FTA talks with the Philippines were launched in 2016 and are part …
‘Unsustainable’ palm oil: MEPs call for regulation, product discrimination
The European Parliament adopted by an overwhelming majority a legally non binding report that calls on the EU to introduce regulation to curtail imports of palm oil whose production does not meet international environmental and social sustainability criteria. Drafted by Czech MEP Katerina Konecna (GUE/NL) from the environment committee, …
Indonesia revives EU biodiesel antidumping disputes with new WTO complaint
If you believed the fate of the EU’s biodiesel antidumping duties was sealed after the WTO appellate body’s ruling on a case brought by Argentina and a European Court of Justice ruling annulling these measures in the autumn 2016, stand corrected. The saga goes on. This week, Indonesia filed a complaint in …
Human rights protection enters EU export control universe
The European Parliament has started working on EU plans to review its export control legislation. The legislative process initiated can be expect to be messy as it significantly extends the scope of situations to which exports controls of so-called dual-use technologies could apply. The move puts the EU on …
TDI: Commission to phase out China solar panel duties
The European Commission is extending trade defence duties applied to solar panels and cells from China by another eighteen months. It is also planning to phase them out gradually. The move comes after a first failed initial proposal to extend those duties by two years following an expiry review finalised …
Indonesia FTA papers: Intellectual property and raw materials among top EU priorities
The EU Commission has released nine revealing negotiating texts it tabled to Indonesian trade authorities during the second round of free trade talks held in Jakarta in late January. The report on the round published by the Commission hailed the talks as “constructive” and explained that the EU set …
Extension of China solar duties faces setback in antidumping committee
The Commission faced a setback today when it tabled a proposal to extend for another two years antiduming duties and a price undertaking on solar panels from China. The measures, introduced in 2013, divided member states and the solar industry, and increased political tensions with Beijing. After an expiry review …
EU to extend trade defence measures against Chinese solar cells for two years
The EU is expected to renew antidumping measures and a ‘price undertaking’ in place since 2013 on solar panel cells from China on Thursday (26 January 2017). The move comes after a one-year expiry review of measures that had provoked significant frictions with China and divided the renewables industry in …
Comment: Why China, US, EU should revive EGA talks in 2017
The world trading system and climate policies need EGA to succeed. Why waste another year to conclude the environmental goods pact in the WTO? Front-row EGA observer Peter Brun on what happened and what comes next for the supposedly easy pact that stumbled last December 2016. More than a month …
