The EU and Indonesia will launch free trade negotiations in the autumn 2016. Initial plans to do so were launched in 2013, but the ‘scoping exercise’ necessary before the EU member states greenlight new talks had lasted particularly long. With France dropping its plans to tax palm oil – a …
EU trade policies
TTIP after Round 14: not quite endgame yet
The EU and the US have finalised their fourteenth round of negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership this week in Brussels with a sense of genuine progress. While the outline of the deal starts becoming visible, reaching ‘endgame’ to conclude the deal in 2016 remains a technical …
CETA – Now official : investment outside provisional application
The Slovak government has made clear that investment provisions of CETA will not be applied before all 28 member states ratify the deal. The Canadian trade deal concluded by the EU continues to be a hot potato in EU trade politics. It is the Slovak government, at the helm of the …
In brief: China market economy status post EU China summit
EU members continue to be deeply divided over the issue of granting China market economy treatment in antidumping. “The situation in the Council is complicated”, Peter Žiga, Minister of Economy of Slovakia, told MEPs this morning, referring to the China file. “The issue of granting China market economy status is of …
EU to remove Belarus textile quotas
As part of its recent political rapprochement with Belarus in the aftermath of the crisis in Ukraine, the EU has not only partially lifted sanctions on leaders in Minsk. The EU is also moving to repeal existing textile import quotas from the country. Belarus welcomes the move.
In brief: Mid week TTIP update
This is TTIP week in Brussels. Below mid-week bits and pieces of updates. In this fourteenth round of talks in rainy Belgium negotiators are ploughing through thousands of pages of texts with the aim to have an outline of the final TTIP agreement in place. For those familiar with …
Call for ‘prudential carve-out’ for data flows in trade talks post Privacy Shield
While businesses hope that with the Privacy Shield, the EU will become more active in combating forced data localisations abroad, consumer and privacy activists in the EU are stepping up efforts to carve out privacy rules from free trade rules.
Commissioner Malmström sidesteps tricky files in first Beijing speech
No talk of China market economy treatment, or an investment agreement, let alone an FTA with China in Malmström’s inaugural speech in Beijing.
TiSA: Services Coalition calls for progress in e-commerce, telecommunications
Services groups see insufficient progress in e-commerce, telecommunications, finance, delivery services and movement of professionals in TiSA as parties aim towards endgame in 2016. ID.
TTIP: European business alliance in call for “constructive approach”
Creative thinking is needed to make progress in TTIP, business groups say. The Business Alliance for TTIP, which includes the European Small Business Alliance, the European Round Table, the European Services Forum, Business Europe, the Trans-Atlantic Business Council, Eurocommerce, Eurochambres and AmChamEU, is calling for tangible progress in TTIP …
