News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
A comparatively ‘quiet’ week in Brussels on trade. The week was eventful on the WTO and multilateral trade front, with Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, Canada’s mini WTO reform summit, and the UK’s WTO tariff schedule dominating the headlines. Ottawa WTO meeting sets ball rolling on reform As expected, …
The European Commission sent the EU-Vietnam free trade and investment agreements to member states and the European Parliament today. So what happens next? And will the trade pact come into force in 2019? It’s clearly not a done deal. In principle, an international agreement is sent to member states only …
The trade agenda was extremely dense this week. The EU is preparing to sign and ratify a slew of trade deals. The European Commission is close to getting a mandate from member states to renegotiate a beef quota with the US as part of a package of possible deals under …
Insiders don’t believe the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed this summer faces a serious risk of being voted down in the European Parliament at the end of the year. But as the assembly enters its last months of functioning, a vocal group of left-of-centre MEPs is making a last big …
Below some highlights of this week’s trade committee meeting in Brussels, and a little update on the EU-Australia FTA talks. In case you missed them, check out our other articles this week on no-deal Brexit here and here, the EU’s food export bonanza, trilateral EU-Japan-US discussions on China and WTO, CETA, and the …
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on European Union – United States relations that takes a conciliatory tone towards Washington, despite the recent deterioration of bilateral political, security and trade relations. MEPs called on the US to scrap its aluminium and steel tariffs on the EU and to work with …
The European Parliament adopted a new resolution on EU-China relations. China is a divisive topic in the European Union. Yet the report, adopted in a comparatively smooth process with a strong majority of 530 MEPs, can be said to reflect a consensus view of the bloc’s political establishment on the …
With the current surge in anti-system parties with protectionist rhetoric, trade policy professionals might be forgiven for thinking that the next European Parliament could turn more hostile to trade liberalisation and trade agreements than the one whose legislature will end early next year. VoteWatch.EU, a think tank specialising in data-driven …
This week was largely dominated by the European Parliament’s work on trade, the transatlantic trade rift and the deepening crisis of the WTO’s Appellate Body. This is what we wrote about this week: The WTO Appellate Body crisis here and here Southern Africa and UK trade post Brexit State of …
After Cecilia Malmström briefed MEPs on the July meeting between US President Donald Trump and the European Commission’s chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Parliament made clear that it wanted a say in the negotiation process that is now unfolding. The two sides are setting up an ‘executive working group’ that …
