The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements – or EPAs – with sub-Saharan countries inked a few years ago are not getting off the ground as African governments don’t like their EU-inspired rules on raw materials policies. African countries are also currently prioritising continent-wide regional integration. By Iana Dreyer.
Energy & Environment
Injecting energy into the agenda of trade negotiators
Barriers to trade and investment in energy goods and services, long neglected, start being addressed by trade negotiators in the World Trade Organisation and outside of it. The process of integrating the energy dimension to trade policy is however still in its infancy. A recent World Energy Council report aims …
Trade, values and supply chains: the trade policy challenge ahead
Trade For All’, the EU’s new trade strategy, aims to better connect ‘values’ and trade. It is part of a broader movement in this direction at global level. Corinne Vadcar outlines the dynamics shaping this trend and what are the key challenges in making trade, human rights, labour rights and environmental …
INTERVIEW: End of US crude oil export ban – consequences for TTIP and the climate
Late 2015, the United States unexpectedly liberalised its exports of crude oil, a move that infuriated climate activists, but pleased Europeans concerned about the continent’s energy security, and raised EU hopes an energy chapter in ongoing TTIP negotiations could become a reality. In an exclusive interview with Borderlex, Carnegie’s David Livingston …
Environmental Goods Agreement : high hopes for a small deal
A ‘green goods’ trade deal under negotiation among a subset of World Trade Organization members has good chances of materialising by December this year. But the process of determining which good makes it into the list of liberalised goods is highly politicised. EGA will not likely give a significant boost to …
Brussels moves against intra-EU investor-state arbitration raise Energy Charter dilemmas
The Commission is stepping up efforts to root out intra-EU international investment arbitration. Yet doing so for Energy Charter Treaty-based cases raises dilemmas for a body that wants to promote the agreement globally but sees support for the text dwindling at home, as seen with Italy’s recent outright pull-out. By Iana Dreyer.
In brief: Next week – new round of Environmental Goods Agreement negotiations
Parties to the Environmental Goods Agreement will be holding a new round of negotiations over the liberalisation of tariffs on “green goods” next week (July 27-31) in Geneva. The aim of the seventeen WTO members parties to the talks is to conclude a deal ahead of the UN Paris climate summit in December …
Comment: Russia’s WTO gripes about EU gas market laws
Russia has formally requested that a dispute settlement panel be established at the World Trade Organization to rule on its complaints against EU energy market laws. From a legal and geopoliticial perspective, this is perhaps one of the most interesting cases the WTO will have to deal with in the near future. By …
‘Environmental goods’ trade talks: EU settles for limited ambition for December deadline
EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström outlined the EU’s current approach to the ‘environmental goods agreement’ under negotiation among seventeen World Trade Organization members. Realism in what can be achieved by an initial December deadline for concluding talks has set in, as Brussels aims for a two-step approach and a “living agreement” that can be updated over …
China in Latin America – a new force for the EU to reckon with
China has understood the strategic importance of Latin America and made it part of its current ‘One Belt One Road’ strategy aimed at increasing China’s connectivity with the emerging world. As Chinese investors play an increasing role in the Latin American economies, what role will there be for Europeans in …
