In early September 2017, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his government in response to news of slower economic growth following his team’s drastic clampdown on cash. ‘Demonetization’, as the reform is called to reduce the share of the informal economy in India, has taken a toll on growth levels. …
EU trade policies
EU and US sign insurance agreement as transatlantic economic contacts intensify
Trump or no Trump, TTIP or no TTIP: when regulators want to talk, they talk. This is what the ‘covered agreement’ on insurance and reinsurance between the US and EU formally signed today (21 September 2017) reveals. The move comes as formal and informal exchanges between EU and US officials …
In brief: CETA – state of play member state ratifications
As CETA comes into force provisionally on Thursday (21 September 2017), the following countries have ratified the EU Canadian trade agreement, Portugal being the latest one: Portugal (20 September) Czech Republic (13 September 2017) Malta (19 July 2017) Croatia (30 June 2017) Spain (29 June 2017) Denmark (1 June …
Blog – midweek EU trade roundup – CETA, digital, bananas, Brexit transition
Not every day is scoop bonanza in trade policy. One of these days seems to be today. But there are a few files sizzling in the background that will lead to further stories down the road. CETA day coming Of course, tomorrow, 21 September, CETA is coming into …
WTO: Rift with US over Appellate Body member appointments deepens
A rift between a large group of leading World Trade Organization members and the United States deepened on Friday (15 September 2017) as an informal dispute settlement body meeting ended with no agreement on the appointment of three Appellate Body members. Washington is blocking the appointments of successors to …
Commission’s MIC and New Zealand – Australia FTA wish list
In line with announcements made by president Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday (13 September 2017) in Strasbourg, the Commission released the draft mandate it is requesting from member states to negotiate free trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand.
Trade – key takeaways from Juncker State of Union speech
Trade featured first on a very long list of policy and EU reform proposals formulated by the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during his annual ‘State of the Union’ speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday (13 September 2017). Announcements include the finalisation of a …
FDI screening plans open door to Commission scrutiny of EU funded projects
The EU Commission’s draft proposal for a regulation on foreign investment screening, announced during the summer 2017, is what it can only be: mainly a framework to share information among member states. It also allows the Commission itself to look more closely into some “projects or programmes of Union interest …
France’s expert commission’s ten CETA commandments
The expert commission on CETA set up by the French government to assess the agreement’s impact on EU environmental and health effects published its report on Friday (8 September 2016). It makes ten recommendations for further action on the EU Canada trade agreement. Follow-up moves by the French government will …
Fatty alcohols : WTO confirms EU expired TDI measures remain under dispute panel purview
The latest Appellate Body report confirms that it has jurisdiction over expired measures when these are annulled or lapse during a dispute settlement proceeding in the World Trade Organization. It also rebuffs once more the EU for not properly disclosing information to the foreign companies it investigates in trade defence …
