The European Parliament intended to rush through the ratification of the much-contested CETA agreement before Christmas. After having rejected a motion for a resolution by rebel centre-left MEPs to put CETA to scrutiny at the Court of Justice on Wednesday, the hope of a swift ratification faded quickly. There …
EU trade policies
Trump world hovers over next steps in EU China investment and trade moves
Germany’s prosperous port city of Hamburg is the host of a German-European-Chinese summit, the Hamburg Summit 2016 this week. The swanky event takes place against a backdrop of rising questions over international stability, US-China relations, and investment frictions in EU-China relations. A city open to China Hamburg is positioning …
We’re too busy! says Commission to Taiwan
With the giant TTIP and TiSA negotiations off the agenda in the coming months and possibly years one would believe trade officials in the European Commission would have some extra time on their hands to deal with other negotiations and trade files. Yet there’s one file they are clearly …
Switzerland flags EU steel import surveillance measures
The EU and Switzerland took stock of their bilateral trade relations under their 1994 free trade agreement in their annual joint committee meeting on Wednesday (23 November 2016). The Swiss appear to be the collateral victims of the EU’s attempts to curb Chinese steel. Though both sides generally appear …
EU and Mexico hold second round of free trade negotiations – in shadow of Trump and Brexit
This week, the EU and Mexico have been holding a second round of negotiations to upgrade their fifteen year old free trade agreement. The two sides have so far talked mainly about the scope and format of talks, little about actual substance. The UK’s exit from the EU and the election of …
Strong far right support for failed CETA ECJ referral resolution
VoteWatch.eu has released the details of yesterday’s (23 November 2016) vote on a resolution requesting the European Parliament to ask the Court of Justice to verify the legal compatibility of the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) proponents hope to see come into force provisionally in early 2017. The left-wing move has …
Comment: EU trade policy must use the trade deal pause in 2017 to sort itself out
With TTIP off the table for now, 2017 will be a good year for the EU common commercial policy to sort itself out, Iana Dreyer muses. There is no doubt : the EU’s trade policy has taken quite a few beatings lately. The blows have come from outside and from …
In brief: EU India – what’s the noise all about?
Much has been said about the recent termination by India of its bilateral investment treaty with the Netherlands’s contribution to the stalling of attempts to revive and EU-India free trade accord (BTIA). In fact it’s not the terminations that are determinant here. It’s the substance of the FTA. India …
Conflict minerals sourcing due diligence to become mandatory by 2021
The Council, the Commission and the European Parliament have reached a ‘political’ agreement on the shape of a long-awaited EU regulation aiming at eliminating minerals such as gold, tantalum and tungsten from war torn-regions (for example in Central Africa) from European companies’ supply chains. In 2014, the Parliament sent back to …
In brief: Obama and Merkel on TTIP
Still talking about TTIP? Well TTIP, the controversial transatlatantic trade agreement launched in 2013 is not for now. With Donald Trump just elected as US president, the Obama administration winding down and the French and Germans bracing for difficult elections next year. Yet the two most powerful players in the TTIP game …
