Germany has given the green light to the signing of the Canada EU trade deal at a Council meeting today following a ruling by its constitutional court that rejected requests made by NGOs to issue an injunction to the German government to stop the CETA approval process. But Berlin wants CETA …
EU trade policies
CETA: three member states still to appease
As expected Belgium was not able to give the green light to the signature of CETA at a trade minister’s meeting this morning in Luxembourg. Romania and Bulgaria, though apparently not actively opposing signature of CETA, continue to express their ‘reservations’. Without unanimous approval, the painstakingly negotiated free trade agreement between …
Sri Lanka hopes to regain GSP Plus status in early 2017
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is in Brussels to negotiate on the island nation’s GSP Plus status. His is a delicate mission as the EU has set the bar high. Back in 2010, Sri Lanka lost the EU’s ‘extra’ preferential trade status given by the EU to developing economies that …
CETA approval still pending
It will be an all-nighter for Paul Magnette ahead of an EU trade ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg today (18 October 2016). But the deadline to approve CETA as planned will most likely be missed. The minister president of the region of Wallonia is holding up the approval by Belgium of the …
Steel industry calls for US-style ‘non standard methodology’ to treat future Chinese exports
Council members will not only try to reach an agreement to sign CETA at a pencilled in EU Canada summit next week. They will also discuss EU plans to overhaul its antidumping legislation ahead of a planned move to grant China market economy treatment. And the steel industry is watching …
CETA: the very final countdown
So this morning Paul Magnette, the minister president of Wallonia, has announced he would order the federal government of Belgium not to sign CETA later this month. The federal government is bound by this. So is it over for CETA? At a first glance, yes. Are there any ways …
SME network says FTAs and standard harmonisation key to boost international trade
Eurochambres, a leading EU-wide network of business and SME organizations has released an annual survey on the business confidence of its members it participated in as part of the Global Chamber Platform : trade policy features highly on the priority list of the network’s members. Asked what measures they would favour to counter “trade restrictive …
CETA: all eyes on Belgium
Today all eyes are on Belgium as the Wallonian parliament, with a majority of deputies having pronounced themselves against CETA, is to rule today (Fridat 14 October 2016) whether it will bloc signature of the EU Canadian trade deal. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has warned Wallonians that such …
Trade: the tribulations of the ‘political’ Commission
The ‘political’ Commission launched by president Juncker, touted as a means to revive the European Union’s standing and the bureaucracy’s effectiveness, has led to paralysis as trade has moved centre-stage in the bloc’s perpetual political crisis, Iana Dreyer opines.
German constitutional court greenlights signature and provisional application of CETA
The powerful constitutional court of Germany has rejected a series of NGO requests to have it block the German government from greenlighting the signature of the Canada EU trade agreement CETA scheduled for next week (18 October 2016). It also refused to give an injunction to the German government to refuse provisional …
