The three European Union institutions finalised negotiations to expand the scope of its dual-use export control regime to cybersurveillance technology with the aim of protecting human rights.
EU trade policies
Week in Brussels: European Commission trade defence push
This week’s Week in Brussels column focuses on EU trade defence.
Comment: Transatlantic trade relations after the US elections
Whoever ends up winning the election in the United States, the European Union now urgently needs to put serious security and geostrategic thinking first and avoid using its trade policy as an easy ‘ersatz’ for genuine security and international diplomacy, argues Borderlex’s founder Iana Dreyer.
EU institutions conclude deal on trade enforcement
The European Union will very soon have a revamped ‘enforcement regulation’, a hitherto hardly known legal instrument that allows the bloc to retaliate against countries contravening international trade norms and not cooperating in legal disputes and thus protect itself against ‘appeals into the void’ at the World Trade Organization. The …
WTO Corner: New report on TRIPS and COVID-19
There is nothing ‘new’ to report from three days of meetings of WTO ambassadors this week under the format of an ‘Informal TNC’ and a ‘General Council’. As usual, the large powers have spent time bickering over ‘market oriented conditions’, ‘special and differential treatment’ for developing countries, dispute settlement, agriculture, …
EU authorised to hit US $ 4 bn in United States trade
Updated on 13 October 2020 at 18.11 CET. The European Union may retaliate against the United States following damage to Airbus’ sales of aircraft to prospective clients from government subsidies to Boeing. The amount of annual trade that may be covered by EU retaliation is US $ 3.99 billion.
Post-COVID 19: Positions on trade harden in European Parliament
A vote on a low-key European Parliament report this week turned into a major battle over the direction of trade policy in a post COVID-19 world. It worked as a catalyst, revealing growing rifts reaching right into the political centre-ground on European trade politics in a turbulent time. Green goals …
EU Mercosur trade pact hits first European Parliament hurdle
If you think that, because Valdis Dombrovski’s nomination to become the next trade commissioner of the EU was relatively smooth sailing in the European Parliament, MEPs will make life easy for him, you are mistaken. A group of MEPs had amendments successfully adopted in a plenary vote on Tuesday (6 …
The Dombrovskis trade plan
Valdis Dombrovskis is expected to receive the assent of the European Parliament to take on a new role as commissioner for international trade at a vote in plenary on Wednesday morning (7 October 2020). Although it’s never a done deal – the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents has “made a final …
WTO – EU to FAST: let’s go slow
The European Commission circulated a paper to European Union member states on how it wants to approach ‘trade and sustainability’ in the World Trade Organization ahead of a member state meeting on the topic held on Monday. The key message: let’s go slow on trade and environment in the world …
