In a speech to the Brussels business community, Cecilia Malmström set out the European Commission’s approach to China. The trade commissioner’s talk indicates there will likely not be much change in the way Brussels deals with the giant Asian country. European businesses wanting the EU to open more markets in China for them might …
Investment protection and promotion
TTIP and the European politics of ISDS: what next?
[sh_light_text ]The European Commission decided last week to buy time over investor protection clauses in the planned transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) after it published the largely negative results of a public consultation over the matter. So: what next? Iana Dreyer has gathered the views of a few veterans …
European trade policy: outlook and challenges for 2015
[sh_light_text ]The new year festivities in Europe are over. In 2015 the EU will face a busy trade policy agenda and some daunting challenges in fulfilling its objectives and promoting its interests. We outline some of them.[/sh_light_text]
After Malmström in Berlin – German government not likely to oppose ISDS in CETA and TTIP
After European trade commissioner Malmström’s visit to Berlin on Monday, the likelihood that the Canada-EU trade deal (CETA) finalised last September will be derailed because of German opposition to its investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses appears extremely low. So are the odds that Germany will oppose ISDS in the ongoing transatlantic trade and investment partnership …
EU-China investment treaty talks may face bumpy road
[sh_light_text ]The EU and China are discussing their planned bilateral investment treaty on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Italy this week. Both want to conclude an agreement that mutually opens markets and better protects investors’ rights. But negotiations will likely be protracted and Beijing does not appear to prioritise this deal with Brussels, Jennifer Freedman …
Fit for the city? Trade policy and today’s urban economy
[sh_light_text ]Cities are increasingly the locus of the world economy. Since 2007, more than half the world population has been living in cities. The world is continuing to urbanise rapidly. But are today’s trade policies and free trade negotiations up to the task of catering to cities’ needs? A panel …
A $ 50 bn award concludes long-standing Energy Charter Yukos case
[sh_light_text ]A Hague tribunal US$ 50 bn award concludes one of the world’s most high-profile expropriation cases, that of Yukos, the former biggest Russian oil company previously owned by Michail Khodorkovsky, reports Iana Dreyer.[/sh_light_text]
Mega-regionals muddy investment-protection landscape
[sh_light_text ]Mega-regional trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may complicate rules designed to protect investors, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development says.[/sh_light_text] By Jennifer Freedman
Investor-state disputes in the US & EU – beyond the myths
[sh_light_text ]Iana Dreyer comments on a new note published by UNCTAD, the Geneva-based UN body dealing with trade and investment, analysing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases where the United States (US) and European Union (EU) member states have been involved. [/sh_light_text]
Blog: UNCTAD & WTO reports on investment & trade measures – EU in all this
Yesterday, new facts and numbers of about international trade and investment policies came out of Geneva. A short UNCTAD-OECD report on G20 Investment Measures was published, and the WTO released its semi-annual report on trade measures as a means to track down protectionist tendencies. Borderlex is interested in how Europe is …
