Updated. This week, trilateral talks involving Ukraine, the EU and Russia over Ukraine’s implementation of the trade pillar (DCFTA) of its Association Agreement with the EU – the deal that triggered the Ukraine crisis – have shown very limited signs of progress. At the very least, they have failed to satisfy the Russian government.
EU trade policies
A few take-aways from MEP amendments to planned TTIP resolution
The close to 900 amendments added by MEPs to a planned EU Parliament resolution on TTIP to be voted on before the summer is partly the result of a strong mobilisation of the legislature’s populist parties. It reflects the divisiveness of many files in the ongoing transatlantic trade and investment negotiations. Overall, a European Parliament position on some …
COMMENT: What an ECJ opinion on EU accession to Europe’s foremost human rights convention means for ISDS
Opinion 2/13 anyone? This is a recent legal opinion of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice on whether it is legal for the EU to join the European Convention on Human Rights. It has important ramifications for current EU Commission efforts to reform investor-to-state dispute settlement. By Iana Dreyer.
In brief: Conflict minerals – INTA votes for mandatory reporting for smelters and refiners
Analysis: Beyond the law: the politics of the EU’s debate on China’s market economy status
Legal considerations will likely come second only in determining whether Brussels will grant China the market economy status it feels entitled to obtain in its trade relations with the European Union. By Iana Dreyer.
Of paper and fertilisers: moving from politics to law in EU Russia trade disputes
A fourth dispute settlement panel within less than two years to rule on a case between the EU and Russia will soon be established at the World Trade Organization. Is the rising number of trade cases brought by Brussels against Moscow in Geneva the continuation of trade war by other means in a bilateral relationship …
Blog: 6 take-aways from EU minister’s meeting on trade #Doha #TTIP #Vietnam #Japan #CETA #Russia
In Brief: WTO dispute settlement panel to be established in EU-Pakistan plastics case
A simmering dispute between the EU and Pakistan over Brussels’ countervailing duties on imports of polyethilene plastics from the South Asian nation will now be adjudicated in a formal WTO dispute settlement panel. China and the US are third parties in the case. Ravi Kanth in Geneva.
Opinion: The geostrategic importance of the EU-Mercosur negotiations
Seal the long-stalled EU Mercosur trade deal or accept Brazil’s and South America’s turn to China and away from a liberal world order, argues Mikael Wigell from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
In Brief: MEPs say steel, chemicals need longer tariff protection in TTIP
The European parliament’s industry committee issued its recommendations to be included in a report on TTIP scheduled to be adopted in a plenary session early May this year. The recommendations, drafted by Polish MEP Jerzy Buzek, largely endorses TTIP and focuses on issues like US public procurement, small-and-medium sized enterprises, and liberalisation of energy trade.
