By Sarah Anne Aarup and Iana Dreyer. A selection of trade policy developments in the EU this week.
Energy & Environment
Week in Brussels: New TDI cases, RoOs, Australia, sustainability debate
It looks like the EU’s ‘enforcement’ agenda for trade rules and trade agreement is now gradually being rolled out. There’s been a lot of discussion on the future direction of trade policy in the European Parliament. Find out more below! By Sarah Anne Aarup and Iana Dreyer.
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 …
CTEO, trade deals, Western Balkans part of new EU raw materials strategy
Trade policy will now be used as leverage for EU’s Green Deal raw materials strategy. Accessing raw materials that are critical to its industry has been a long-standing goal of the European Union’s trade policy. But Brussels it is now moving up another gear in its quest for supply chain …
MEPs can’t wait for new EU supply chain legislation
The European Parliament can’t wait to shape European Union-wide legislation on supply chain resilience and sustainability post COVID-19. Public opinion pressure on politicians has led France to introduce legislation obliging its multinational companies to observe due diligence in the area of human rights. About ten countries in the EU, including …
Week in Brussels: border carbon adjustment, Brexit preparedness, ESA, Georgia
Carbon border adjustment – Lange prefers ETS extension The German chemical industry association VCI held a webinar this week on trade policy and climate change. International trade committee chair Bernd Lange was a speaker. Whether this is an indication of what is to come as the EU prepares to prepare …
Environmental provisions in USMCA: regression or progression?
The flagship USMCA trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico is coming into force on 1 July 2020 How does this agreement deal with environmental issues? Bashar Malkawi and Shakeel Kazmi walk us to the key provisions in USMCA on environment – contrasting them with other trade agreements, …
Week in Brussels: Raw materials, anti-subsidy actions, CETA financial services
With new fire added to the brewing tensions in EU-US trade relations as new tariffs on the EU were announced in Washington, the EU mulling new retaliatory measures against US trade ‘coercion”, and Brussels infighting over the issue of who – if at all – it will put forward as …
Interview: A new Energy Charter Treaty as a complement to the Paris Agreement
In an interview with Borderlex, the Energy Charter Treaty’s secretary-general Urban Rusnák said: “In one or two years I expect to have a new Energy Charter Treaty as complement to the Paris climate agreement.“
Analysis: The EU’s ECT modernisation proposals
Ahead of a meeting of the Energy Charter Treaty members next week, the European Union has published its proposals in the form of legal to modernise what some called the WTO of energy. Discussions on modernising the ECT, an agreement that dates back to the early 1990s, have been …
