The European Union is investing political capital the African Continental Free Trade Area. What’s the state of play in getting the world’s largest free trade area off the ground? And why does the project matter so much for Europe? By Françoise Guei.
SSAfrica
Week in… Addis Ababa
It was quiet in Brussels this week. Winter holidays played a part – the coronavius probably less so. The main focus was the post-Brexit EU UK trade relationship, which we covered quite extensively this week. A European Parliament delegation flew out to Australia to talks trade relations….There are rumours of …
A week in Brussels: German Greens boss on EU US, transatlantic parliament meet, EU-ACP
This week the news focus has been on WTO, China and Brexit. Here some other interesting bits of Brussels trade news for you. US auto tariffs: Habeck says EU retaliation should target digital, airlines In an interview with the leading German business daily Handelsblatt this week, Robert Habeck, one of …
Blog: 750 mn euros Italian auto sector losses and other trade numbers
Tired of gloomy trade news? Let’s have some fun today. Here four numbers worth playing around with this week. 750 000 000 That’s the number of US $ worth of economic output Italy alone could lose should the United States close off its market to German autos and parts. The …
UK accords with Chile, Faroes, ESA retain rules of origin cumulation with EU
Chris Horseman offers an initial analysis of the first free trade agreements the United Kingdom ‘rolled over’ from the EU ahead of Brexit date.
A Week in Brussels: INTA, South Africa, Samoa and more
The trade agenda was extremely dense this week. The EU is preparing to sign and ratify a slew of trade deals. The European Commission is close to getting a mandate from member states to renegotiate a beef quota with the US as part of a package of possible deals under …
A week in Brussels: Mercosur, Africa, CETA
It’s been a big-ticket week in trade, kicked off by a meeting between the USTR and the EU’s trade commissioner on a possible ‘deal’, and two big reports adopted by the European Parliament on relations with the United States and with China. There was also some action on the Brexit …
Commentary: AfCFTA has great potential, but road ahead may be long and bumpy
The African Continental Free Trade Area promises to be a boon for African nations and their trade partners, but the road to the successful implementation of the AfCFTA remains long, argue Kholofelo Kugler and Hanna Deringer. Schedules of commitments on tariff reductions and services remain unfinished, they say, and accommodating …
EU palm oil plans crop up in WTO
On Monday, seven World Trade Organization members raised concerns about the EU’s new Renewable Energy Directive during a goods committee meeting. In January, the European Parliament voted to ban palm oil from the bloc’s targets for consumption of renewable energy for transport by 2021, in a shift away from earlier …
EU and ACP reaffirm commitment to WTO ahead of Buenos Aires ministerial meeting
Leaders of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries group gathered in Brussels on Friday (20 October 2017) in a ministerial meeting with the European Union attended by the World Trade Organization’s chief, Roberto Azevêdo, and Argentina’s representative for the WTO’s upcoming 11th ministerial conference, Susana Malcorra. The gathering comes …
