In many ways this has been a week full of trade defence news: the first European Court of Auditors report on EU trade defence policy was released this week, and Turkey decided to go to court in Geneva over the EU’s steel safeguard. There is also the ever-simmering tariff guerilla …
Internal EU politics
Week in Brussels: trade dive, DG Trade reorganisation, Belgium, Irish protocol
This has been a heavy-duty week in EU trade, with the transatlantic relationship thrown in disarray by the new Court of Justice of the EU’s ruling on the EU-US Privacy Shield. Also the EU and India genuinely want to move on and established a High Level Dialogue. The European Commission …
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.
Week in Brussels: Hogan on US, France and CETA, Cambodia, CTEO
It’s been one of those relatively low-key weeks on trade in Brussels – which only prepare the ground for more intense meetings and developments later on. Hogan back in action To start with: Phil Hogan is back! After a ‘purdah’ period imposed on him by his bosses while he was …
German presidency and trade: strong emphasis on sovereignty issues and bilateral trade agenda
The German government officially released its fifteen-page work programme for the coming six months as it prepares to take over the rotating European Union presidency. To say the least Germany’s presidency comes at a very critical time for the EU. Berlin’s text largely aligns with the EU’s general direction of …
Opinion: The EU risks botching its WTO leadership bid
The European Union’s messaging ahead of the coming selection process for a new director-general for the World Trade Organization is cause for embarrassment, opines Iana Dreyer. But there is still time to change course.
INTA committee: pharma IP, enforcement regulation, steel, chief enforcement officer
Today the international trade committee met for a somewhat longer session than the one held at the end of April at the height of Europe’s lockdown. Here some highlights of what’s been said. Pharma intellectual property The pharmaceutical intellectual property space is one to watch very closely post COVID-19. It …
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.
Lange: check IP rules in EU FTAs to fight COVID-19 pandemic
The chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee is asking the European Union to look into some intellectual property rules in its trade policies and agreements with the view of making any future COVID-19 vaccine accessible to the largest numbers in the shortest possible period of time. In a …
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 …