The Commission is stepping up efforts to root out intra-EU international investment arbitration. Yet doing so for Energy Charter Treaty-based cases raises dilemmas for a body that wants to promote the agreement globally but sees support for the text dwindling at home, as seen with Italy’s recent outright pull-out. By Iana Dreyer.
EU trade policies
In brief: INTA to table oral question on EU Vietnam trade deal human rights clauses
In brief: Sri Lanka to seek lifting of suspension of EU trade preferences
Bloomberg reports that Sri Lanka will request the lifting of a 2010 suspension of European trade preferences.
BLOG: EU & ISDS: Are investor-state tribunals really ‘private’?
Are investor-state investment arbitration tribunals ‘private’ justice, or private “corporate tribunals”? Whatever one thinks of the merits of ISDS or lack thereof, this frequently-aired view is wrong. Also the often-heard argument that in Europe investor-state arbitration tribunals are out of control of EU law is questionable. By Iana Dreyer
OUTLOOK: Autumn 2015 EU trade policy agenda
Welcome back to work, trade folks! Iana Dreyer outlines what’s on the long to-do list of the European Union’s trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in Brussels.
EU and Vietnam seal bilateral free trade talks
(Updated on 04 Aug 2015 at 19.15) The EU and Vietnam have sealed a far-reaching bilateral free trade agreement that involves substantial reforms for Vietnam to implement but falls short of fully liberalising EU imports of Vietnamese agricultural products and imposes strict fabric sourcing rules for its textiles exporters. ID
In brief: Next week – new round of Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations
Parties to the Environmental Goods Agreement will be holding a new round of negotiations over the liberalisation of tariffs on “green goods” next week (July 27-31) in Geneva. The aim of the seventeen WTO members parties to the talks is to conclude a deal ahead of the UN Paris climate summit in December …
Trade commissioner Malmström announces simpler, more open, bilateral trade deals
The EU is mulling simplifying the rules of origin of its free trade agreements and opening up TTIP to third countries. ID. //
EU – Japan: negotiating free trade in the shadow of TTIP and TPP
EU – Japan free trade negotiations have been slowed down by Japan’s current focus on concluding the Transpacific Partnership. Yet they could be upgraded to include regulatory convergence similar to that pursued in TTIP, writes David Kleimann.
Comment: TTIP after the EU Parliament vote – the most difficult tasks still lie ahead
With Fast-Track and an EU Parliament resolution in their pockets, now is time for trade negotiators in Washington and Brussels to move quickly on TTIP and for the EU to defuse more potential sources of domestic divison, by tackling issues such as whether EU member state parliaments will have to ratify …
