Unrivalled coverage of European trade policy
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
This week saw major announcements from the European Union on its plans on climate and tax for the coming years. These announcements, combined with continued uncertainties about transatlantic trade relationships, the UK’s exit from the EU, and the fallout from the corona virus epidemic, contributed to a truly febrile atmosphere …
The European Commission is planning to set a climate neutrality goal by 2050 into law. It hopes to get approval by the Council and the European Parliament for sweeping powers to mandate appropriate measures to get there. The central plank of a package of new climate measures announced today is …
On Wednesday the European Parliament held a snap debate on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and whether it was compatible with the Green Deal announced by Commission von der Leyen. The Mercosur text’s examination and ratification process have not yet started. Said text is not yet even entirely consolidated. Yet the …
It took Indonesia a long time to move from threat to action: but now we have the complaint filed by Jakarta against the European Union’s REDII directive in its relation to imported biofuels. The Indonesian complaint also targets France’s tax exemptions for biofuels – which do not cover biodiesel based …
Brussels has eagerly been waiting for the new European Commission’s ‘Green Deal, a flagship initiative announced by its new president Ursula von der Leyen. Coordinated by Vice President Frans Timmermans, the new compact of measures aims to bring together various strands of EU policy to fulfil the EU’s goal to …
WTO member governments have “never been closer” to an agreement to curb harmful subsidies to the fishing industry than they are at present – but there is absolutely no guarantee of a multilateral deal being done by the end-year deadline. This, in essence, was the message presented by speakers at …
The Centre for European Reform’s Sam Lowe explains how the European Union could go about making a border carbon tax compatible with multilateral trade rules while keeping costs under control. ***
An initiative to liberalise trade in ‘green’ goods and services, and to end subsidies on fossil fuels, has been launched by a small group of countries at this week’s UN General Assembly in New York. The initiative, led by New Zealand, is intended to show that trade policy can serve …
So, here we go again! The issue of ‘border carbon adjustments’ has been a hot topic for a decade among academics. It is now high on the political agenda.
It’s been a fairly quiet week in Brussels as befits any last week of August in Europe. But quiet weeks are good moments for ‘interesting’ moves by the European Commission’s antidumping directorate. This week we saw among others an extension of bike antidumping duties from China on grounds that look …
