News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Russia is pushing back against the sweeping economic sanctions imposed on it by Western nations and some of their allies in the Asia-Pacific following its military attack on Ukraine. This is already having a chilling effect on further ambitions in Brussels to target Russia’s economic interests. Moscow is also piqued …
The European Union’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization João Aguiar Machado confirmed that Brussels was preparing to unilaterally rescind Russia’s most-favoured-nation rights enjoyed as part of its membership of the global institution.
Ukraine notified the World Trade Organization that it was applying a full trade embargo on Russia and no longer implementing the rules of the institution to Russia. Kyiv has also called on other members of the world trade body to do the same. It also wants Russia to be suspended …
What are the 105 countries negotiating a possible new international treaty on investment at the World Trade Organization actually negotiating about? A draft consolidated text of the negotiations obtained by Borderlex might offer a few clues as negotiators meet today to try to bring matters forward.
The new director-general of the World Trade Organization is serious about her desire to see change in the way things get done in Geneva. Her ambitions have irked some diplomats and also created a furore over a slew of resignations in the WTO secretariat that have come to light in …
These are quite some impressive days in WTO dispute settlement in Geneva with China and the EU stirring up a storm, but Brazil too!
The EU has moved faster than expected in launching a legal dispute at the World Trade Organization in relation to Chinese restrictions on exports from Lithuania following a political row with the country related to the opening of a representative office for Taiwan in Vilnius last year. The move is …
There was much less of a void at or around the WTO this week. Here a round-up of developments around the world trade instirution this week. Today trade ministers are holding their annual Swiss-hosted informal WTO ministerial not, as usual, on the sidelines of Davos but online.
Borderlex will be in recess as of tomorrow (22 December) for about a fortnight due to the festive season. So we are fast-forwarding our usual Friday Week in Brussels column for you…
The strictly ‘multilateral’ dimension of the World Trade Organization seems to be in a rut, with the postponement of the 12th ministerial conference having thrown negotiations on issues such as fish subsidies or agriculture into further uncertainty. But, postponement or not, WTO crisis or not, a large subset of members …
