In this Borderlex ‘In Depth’ report, Nikos Lavranos explains in detail the key conclusions of Opinion 2/15 of the CJEU on the status of the 2014 EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement under the EU’s division of competences under EU law released on 16 May 2017. Nikos Lavranos is Guest Professor …
Internal EU politics
In brief: MEPs from centre-left in revolt against Harnessing Globalisation
MEPs from the centre-left group S&D in the European Parliament are about to release a declaration in response to the Commission’s recently released Harnessing Globalisation report. Whereas the Commission paper report has been welcomed in most trade circles, left and right of the political spectrum, a group of trade-sceptic MEPs …
ECJ says investor-state dispute settlement not exclusive EU remit
The long-awaited ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the division of competences between Brussels and the member states on the content of the 2013/2014 free trade agreement with Singapore settles many perpetual power tussles between Brussels and the capitals on a variety of trade-related topics. The …
Merkel says ready to talk with Macron on “reciprocity” in trade
Emmanuel Macron, France’s freshly inaugurated President, met Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin today. Germans wonder whether he is making the EU more protectionist. But Merkel welcomes his insistence on demanding greater reciprocity in market openings from European trading partners. Quizzed by the press about his plans to introduce a Buy European Act …
Blog : What French business wants from EU, trade, and Brexit
We obtained a copy of the ‘Pact for Europe’ proposal sent by a group of four leading French business associations to president-elect Emmanuel Macron on Monday. The business groups are the Medef, the biggest French business group, AFEP, the association of French big businesses (CAC40), the Groupe des …
Commission seeks to flex muscles on investment, TDI, tax, procurement
The European Commission’s follow-up report on its March 2017 White Paper on the Future of Europe union recommends clamping down on tax evasion, strengthening trade defence, and promoting greater reciprocity in public procurement as a means to equalise the rules of the open global market place going forward. It also mulls investment …
ECJ annuls Commission decision to reject citizen petition on TTIP and CETA
The Court of Justice of the EU annulled a decision by the Commission to reject a 3-million signature petition to be recognised as a European Citizens Initiative. The petition requested that the mandate given by member states to the Commission to launch negotiations towards the transatlantic trade pact TTIP and …
In brief: French business bosses ask Macron for “really dissuasive” trade defence
In a joint letter sent to president elect Emmanuel Macron on 9 May 2017, four leading French business organisations have asked the new dweller in the Elysée Palace in Paris for a new “European pact”. The letter signed by Medef, AFEP – the big business organisation, and the industrial group …
Tersen: France’s Macron will want ‘fairness’, sustainability in EU trade deals
Denis Tersen, a senior civil servant and trade policy veteran of France, tells Borderlex what to expect from the French approach to trade policy under its new president Emmanuel Macron. Tersen also offers suggestions to ensure trade policy gains back its legitimacy in the European public’s distrustful eye. …
France: Macron’s free trade stance to come with “conditions”
Trade policy was not a central topic in the campaign in the run-up to the first round of French presidential elections on Sunday (23 April) which propelled 39-old Emmanuel Macron to first place, ahead of the populist Eurosceptic Marine Le Pen. What would France’s approach be to the EU’s trade policy under Macron …
