News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
France’s stance on trade policy under President Emmanuel Macron has puzzled many. Yet Macron’s pragmatist logic is now starting to become clearer as his government finds its ground on the trade politics front back home and US President Donald Trump forces Paris to stay focused on the strategic dimension of …
Here a short midweek update on a variety of EU trade policy files: EU Mercosur Chief negotiators will meet on Friday in Brussels to translate technically the political signals exchanged during the meeting of Mercosur ministers hosted by the European Commission yesterday to help overcome what most observers …
When Canada lodged its sweeping case against US tariffs at the World Trade Organization last month, it cited almost 200 examples of alleged wrongdoing against trading partners including Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Brazil and India. Despite talk of an EU-US ‘trade war’, and although the complaint was filed in a …
The EU and Mercosur are trying hard to get their deal trade done in the coming weeks. The atmosphere among negotiators and in the EU is frenetic as the 31st round of negotiations opens in Brussels on Wednesday. Tensions are running high as competing interests between the parties and …
The European Parliament’s trade committee endorsed a report initiated by Marietje Schaake calling for an EU digital trade strategy and for expediting policies to secure free flows of data across borders. The Schaake report makes recommendations to policymakers on e-commerce, net neutrality and online consumer protection, among others. The …
The European Commission released a report on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, a pot of public money set up ten years ago to help workers in distressed sectors retrain and find new jobs. The press announcement states proudly that this report proves the fund’s “effectiveness”. In 2015 and 2016, …
The French government announced an ‘action plan’ on the EU Canada CETA agreement on Wednesday (25 October 2017). A deep dive into the 20-page document reveals how Macron’s government is manoeuvring to make highly contested trade agreements back home palatable to his party base and the electorate when it puts …
The French government plans to put CETA to ratification in its national assembly in the second half of 2018. In the meantime Paris will work on means to introduce what it termed an “environmental veto” on investor-state disputes that could jeopardise climate policies, ministers announced today. The EU Canada …
The EU is preparing to table a new tariff offer to the South American trading bloc ahead of a new round of negotiations starting on Monday (2 October 2017). Eleven member states are attempting to put a brake on an offer to extend tariff rate quotes on beef, poultry, sugar, …
A European trade prosecutor anyone? France’s president Emmanuel Macron gave a very long speech on Tuesday (26 September 2017). The speech carries the title Initiative pour l’Europe : Une Europe souveraine, unie, démocratique. In English that would be: Initiative for Europe: a sovereign, united and democratic Europe. The speech …
