The current French presidential contest is tight and tense. The outcome of the run-off vote in ten days that will oppose incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the national-populist Marine Le Pen will determine whether the European Union as we know it has a future. Speaking of trade policy in this context …
France
Blog: Is the EU’s FTA agenda unfreezing?
Is the French government finally realising that blocking progress in bilateral trade agreements might not help its much-touted ‘strategic autonomy’ and supply chain resilience agenda that defines the country’s current rotating EU Council presidency?
Blog – Macron’s trade priorities for the 2022 French EU presidency
During the first six months of 2022 the trade policy dimension of France’s rotating presidency of the Council will single-mindedly focus on its climate dimension.
France pours cold water on idea of swift EU Mercosur pact ratification
France is holding the key cards among European Union member states in having the long-awaited EU Mercosur trade pact ratified – perhaps one day – in Europe.
Week in Brussels: CETA, France, ECT, China, EPAs
This week has seen two ‘strategic’ initiatives: the launch of a new paper on EU-US relations and the upgrading of EU-ASEAN relations post RCEP. Here other developments of potential interest. Dombrovksis talks to French Senate – Paris CETA ratification date unclear Nobody knows yet when the French government will put …
Marie-Pierre Vedrenne: Defending your trade interests is not protectionism
In a conversation with Borderlex’s Iana Dreyer, MEP Marie-Pierre Vedrenne explains her thinking behind her widely-endorsed report that could turn the EU’s trade retaliatory ‘bazooka’ into something even bigger.
France, Germany on medical supply chains, Schengen, WTO health initiative
Today’s mainstream media will mainly focus on the budgetary dimension of a political agreement reached between Germany and France today on policies to help the European Union’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Going with the flow: the Franco-Dutch paper on sustainability and trade
Trade media have been abuzz this week with a new paper that is being circulated by the French and Dutch government on how they want to see labour and environment issues addressed in the European Union’s trade policy. The frenzy has been centered around the fact that the Netherlands and …
Week in Brussels: The French, CETA and Mercosur, treating UK as EU, recess reminder
Dear readers, this is the last Week in Brussels column before our summer recess. The next Week in Brussels column will appear on 30 August 2019. We will publish very sparingly over the next two weeks due to the general recess period in relevant European and international trade institutions. Here …
French national assembly gives timid initial OK to CETA
French lawmakers voted in favour of ratifying CETA, the landmark trade and investment agreement the EU clinched with Canada almost three years ago, kickstarting a ratification process that could still prove lengthy and politically fraught.
