[sh_light_text ]The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung writes this morning that the EU is ready to accept that large swaths of the 1500-page long deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) signed this spring with Ukraine will not come into force. [/sh_light_text] Today, officials from Ukraine, Russia and the EU are holding a meeting to reach …
EU trade policies
Trade commissioner: Malmström appointment comes as a surprise
[sh_light_text ]Jean-Claude Juncker’s decision to nominate Swedish liberal Cecilia Malmström as trade commissioner was not widely anticipated. Her nomination heralds a continuation of the EU’s current trade strategy as she inherits politically very sensitive trade dossiers, not least TTIP. Rory Cahill reports in Brussels.[/sh_light_text]
Business & European sanctions against Russia: the uncertainty factor
[sh_light_text ]EU exports to Russia have plummeted. This is not only because of this year’s EU sanctions and Russian import bans. Russia is having a recession. But the direct cost of sanctions has to do with the fact that they create a general sense of uncertainty, thus holding back business decisions, writes Iana Dreyer.[/sh_light_text]
Blog: Contours of CETA – in brief
This week, the European chief negotiator of the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA), Mauro Petriccione, gave an overview of the deal to members of the European parliament. For those who haven’t had time to listen in, here some take-aways:
EU Parliament to ratify EU Ukraine DCFTA this month
The European Union (EU) parliament’s trade committee (INTA) agreed today to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the trade deal (DCFTA) that is embedded in it, in an unusual fast-track procedure. The aim is to ratify the deal signed last June simultaneously with Ukraine, in a sign of support for the country.
INTA Committee Chief sets ‘red lines’ for TTIP – ahead of EP rentrée
As the European parliament (EP) goes back to work after its summer recess, Bernd Lange, the head of the EP’s international trade committee, made explicit his ‘red lines’ for the ongoing transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) negotiations. He added that he would settle for a much less ambitious trade deal than the one currently …
Blog: The reality of precaution in the US and EU
The EU and the US do not significantly differ in their approach to regulation of health and environmental risks. Sometimes the US’ regulations are more stringent than in the EU. Over the last decades, both regulatory systems have in fact cross-fertilised each other. These facts were highlighted in a short …
EU Ukraine DCFTA vs Eurasian customs union: flexibilities on technical standards implementation in sight
[sh_light_text ]During a summit in Minsk this week German Chancellor Angela Merkel provoked an outcry when she told Russian President Vladimir Putin that she wouldn’t raise objections if Ukraine decided to join the Eurasian Union, the regional economic and political project championed by Moscow. Commentators in Europe have seen this …
CETA: Regulated professions empowered to mutually recognise qualifications
[sh_light_text ]Much has been written this summer on the investor-to-state dispute settlement provisions in the Canada EU free trade deal (CETA). Whereas the media has been fixated on this specific controversy, the trade community seems to have missed out on one very interesting development for EU trade policy: for the first time, a Canadian lawyer, …
Sanctions give Belarus a headache
This article appeared originally on the website of our editorial partner Business New Europe. By Sergei Kuznetsov Western sanctions against Russia are a headache for Moscow’s closest ally Belarus. In particular, the financing of the Belarusian economy is under threat, while investment and exports are deeply tied to its giant …
