It’s not TTIP that will constrain our environmental rule-making. The WTO does that already. By Hosuk Lee Makiyama. Trade rules and environmental protection have always been uneasy bedfellows. And like much of the broader trade debate in Europe these days, TTIP is the …
EU Climate, Environment, Labour, Human Rights
‘Political agreement’ over conflict minerals regulation reached – Slovak presidency to take over
Sustainability has been the leitmotiv of the Dutch Council presidency’s trade agenda during the first half of 2016. The Netherlands has set its priority on achieving compromise with fellow member states, the Commission and the Parliament on a regulation that aims to exclude tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold produced in …
Malaysian Palm Oil Council keeps vigilant on French “Nutella tax”
French MPs from the sustainable development commission of the National Assembly, France’s lower house, have reportedly expressed the desire to revert a March 2016 decision by France’s upper house, the Sénat, to scrap a tax on palm oil imports. The vote was sent back to the lower house and …
#FunFact EU posts sardine trade deficit, EUMOFA
Lovers of Mediterranean food fare take note: the EU posted a sardine trade deficit of €100 million, a new report by the European Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture highlights. “The deficit is attributable mainly to the import of canned sardine but also, to a lesser extent, to the …
MEPs want to make labour and environmental standards mandatory in EPAs with ACP countries
On Wednesday (15 June), the trade committee in the European Parliament will examine a report on the future of EU-ACP relations as Europe and Africa Caribbean and Pacific countries prepare the ground for a framework of relationships “beyond 2020”. The EU and African countries are in the process of …
TTIP and energy security: do Europeans actually want US LNG?
When TTIP talks were launched in 2013, Europeans were keen to tap into the United States oil and gas bonanza resulting from the country’s shale revolution to help reduce prices and shake off the continent’s too-heavy reliance on Russian hydrocarbons. But now US shale gas is arrriving in Europe, regardless of …
COMMENT: Towards a coherent system of global energy trade and investment rules
It is time to reassess the relationship between the WTO and Energy Charter Treaty, writes Anna Marhold.
EU African EPAs in limbo
The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements – or EPAs – with sub-Saharan countries inked a few years ago are not getting off the ground as African governments don’t like their EU-inspired rules on raw materials policies. African countries are also currently prioritising continent-wide regional integration. By Iana Dreyer.
Get ready for the coming EU ‘conflict minerals’ regulation
The ‘conflict minerals’ regulation under preparation in the EU will likely go beyond the United States’ equivalent rules under the 2010 Dodd Frank Act. Hundreds of thousands of companies could end up being required to report on their sourcing of tin, tantalum, and tungsten. Better for them to get ready now, writes James Appleyard. …
Injecting energy into the agenda of trade negotiators
Barriers to trade and investment in energy goods and services, long neglected, start being addressed by trade negotiators in the World Trade Organisation and outside of it. The process of integrating the energy dimension to trade policy is however still in its infancy. A recent World Energy Council report aims …
