One hundred WTO members aired concerns about the European Union’s ongoing drive to heavily restrict, if not ban, pesticide use in agriculture at a meeting in Geneva today (9 July).
World Trade Organization
Week in Brussels: EU, Japan to appoint top-notch legal experts, Korea dispute festers
It’s getting ever clearer: the EU is planning to rely increasingly on its bilateral free trade agreements to settle trade disputes with its partners. It is now actively testing the ground.
Week ahead in EU trade: G20 fallout, parliament leadership race, EU Australia
It hasn’t been much of a weekend for European leaders. Nor for journalists. We’ve had: a handshake deal on the EU Mercosur free trade negotiations on Friday night with few details on its exact content, the signing of the EU Vietnam free trade agreement in Hanoi on Sunday (30 June), …
Week in Brussels: Finnish presidency priorities, INTA committee contours, investment facilitation
This week has mainly been about the EU-Vietnam trade agreement and the final stretches over the 20-year-old EU Mercosur trade negotiations.
EU and Mercosur dare hope for trade deal breakthrough in coming days
The European Union appears determined to make a major point about trade policy at the G20 summit in Osaka, which opened today (27 June) in Japan. Negotiations to conclude a trade pact with the South American bloc Mercosur are continuing after marathon meetings with ministers today. The signs are a …
E-commerce: Data localisation requirements emerge as major flashpoint
Plurilateral e-commerce negotiations in the WTO are clearly on track, with rounds taking place every month. The talks, which were kick-started in March, are still their infancy, although they are progressing rapidly.
UPDATE – Week Ahead in EU trade: Vietnam and Mercosur crunch week, DSB
This article was updated on 24 June at 17.35 CET. New information includes detailed dates for the EU Vietnam agreements and an update/erratum on the Spanish olives dispute settlement case. This week we might see breakthroughs in the Vietnam and Mercosur trade agreements. We will certainly see more EU US …
EU WTO market economy status case suspended – following request from China
The Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization has suspended the high-profile case it brought against the European Union. Beijing sued because it believed the EU had not complied with a commitment to treat is as a market economy in its trade defence measures in time for a December …
Week Ahead in EU trade: E-commerce, Vietnam, Indonesia
The main EU trade policy items to watch out for this week are: e-commerce, Indonesian FTA, Vietnam FTA and IPA.
Week Ahead in EU Trade: China, trading system, G20 and the WTO
This week EU and Chinese negotiators are meeting for a 21st round of talks on the EU-China investment agreement. The two sides have brought discussions forward on market access (national treatment), investment protection and sustainable development. Beijing and Brussels vowed to accelerate their investment negotiations last March – let’s see …