It’s been mainly a week of background shuffling on Trump tariffs in the EU. Here some other interesting bits of news of interest to our readers. Macron party takes on Malmström on FTAs Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström was in Paris on Tuesday doing the rounds on trade policy, …
Internal EU politics
A week in Brussels: Culture goods, procurement, Sri Lanka
This week was comparatively quiet. It was Easter, after all. There’s been some movement on the wider global trade war front. Don’t forget to read up on our two articles here and here. The headlines of these articles’ may say ‘China’ or ‘Japan’, but the pieces include a lot …
Brexit Notes: German business steps up trade demands on new government
Germany is leaving behind a period of six months of wait-and-see on major policy areas and has finally installed a new coalition government. For Berlin, Brexit is now starting to be one of the country’s top European priorities. The trade aspect of the UK’s withdrawal, transition period and future …
Berlin nominates pro-business leaders to trade portfolio
Peter Altmaier’s nomination at the helm of Germany’s powerful economics ministry today comes as no surprise. Angela Merkel’s former chief of staff takes over from a ministry held until recently by the SPD, as part of the coalition deal that gave the even mightier finance ministry to the centre-left’s Olaf …
Section 232: German centre-right divided over EU retaliation plans
The European Commission is communicating loudly on its intentions should US President Donald Trump follow through on his intention to slap import duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium from Europe. Will Germany buy it? As widely reported and discussed on this website, the EU intends to …
The week in EU trade: Mercosur update, data, trade ministers
This week was truly packed with activities and events related to trade. The key focus has been Brexit – the transition period and future EU-UK relationship. These topics we now cover separately in dedicated articles and a new series of blogs, the Brexit Notes. The other key focus this week …
Italian election – What could it mean for EU trade policy?
VoteWatchEU released an analysis of the political party landscape in Italy as the Southern European country braces for a long-awaited general election in early March. That landscape is fragmented, with populist parties on the right and left eroding the voter base of Matteo Renzi’s centre-left PD and Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right …
Trade: German coalition deal – Chablis toasts Lemoyne
Here bits of news from the two pivotal trade capitals outside Brussels on trade: Berlin and Paris. German coalition agreement homes in on fair trade The social democrats of Germany have clearly left their mark on the coming approach to trade policy going forward. That’s what one can …
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.
Dispatch from Paris: How Macron’s pragmatism is winning the day on trade
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 …