News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Friday, May 9, 2025
The EU and the South American bloc Mercosur are meeting again on the sidelines of the mini WTO ministerial meeting currently held in Morocco, the Commission announced today. The step follows a negotiation round towards a long-sought free trade agreement in Brasilia last week (2-6 October 2017) that put …
The central question hovering over the fourteenth EU India summit held this week in New Delhi was whether both sides would be able to revive long-stalled bilateral trade negotiations known under the acronym BTIA. Though the two parties didn’t manage to do so they committed to other steps to help …
The UK and the EU have been quietly agreeing on the terms under which they would go together to the World Trade Organization in Geneva to present similar but separate commitment schedules as Britain prepares to leave the EU. The UK is trying to make this process as smooth and …
Draft trade agreements currently under negotiation show the EU is ramping up its chapters on trade and sustainable development. One remaining open question is if these chapters will lead to a dispute settlement process that could lead to suspension of commercial preferences. The EU released the latest draft chapters …
Aegis Europe, the industry coalition that has been driving opposition in the EU to the granting of ‘market economy’ treatment to Chinese imports in the bloc’s trade defence instruments, welcomed the compromise reached on Tuesday (3 October 2017) between the EU’s three main institutions on a new trade defence regulation. …
The EU appears to have innovated in the way it calculates the normal value of a product’s good in its future trade defence investigations. The European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament found common ground during a ‘trilogue meeting’ on Tuesday (3 October 2017) in Strasbourg. The …
At a dispute settlement body meeting on Friday (29 September 2017) at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva, there was no sign of Washington relenting in its drive to block the nomination process of three new Appellate Body members after one mandate lapsed, another is set to expire, and one judge …
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 …
In early September 2017, the European Commission released a draft regulation that provides a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments for national security reasons. These were debated at the European Parliament on Monday (26 September 2017). The EU plans provide for a general framework of exchange of …
