News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
In today’s first public exchange of views in the European Parliament on the European Commission’s proposed carbon border adjustment measure, MEPs raised issues related to competitiveness and jobs, the timeline for phasing out free allocation of emissions, the sectors covered by the proposal, and export rebates.
The European Court of Justice declared in a judgment on Thursday (2 September) that the investor-state arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty is not applicable within the European Union. This effectively puts an end to ECT arbitration within the EU and will significantly increase the pressure on the ongoing …
Rob Francis on carbon border adjustment’s next steps in the European Union.
Why the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between the European Union and Australia and New Zealand are turning to be more difficult than expected. Iana Dreyer and Shana Takoor.
As the dust settles on the Commission’s raft of climate proposals released last week (14 July), commentators and experts are now beginning to analyse them in depth and, in the case of the carbon border adjustment measure at least, assess its compatibility with the World Trade Organization rule-book and the …
There’s been a lot of big news in trade in Europe this week. Here a few more news items to take away before the week-end. By Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer.
The European Union and United Kingdom are among those actively reconsidering the traditional links between trade policy and broader public policy objectives such as tackling climate change. While not without risks, conditioning access to one’s market on a trading partner addressing such global challenges seems the best way forward to …
Canada is preparing to introduce a carbon border adjustment measure whose contours are not yet known. Canada and the European Union vowed at a bilateral summit mid-June to “exchange on respective approaches to carbon pricing and WTO-compatible border carbon adjustments”. A think tank is now making concrete proposals on how …
The European Commission says its proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism complies with the World Trade Organization rule-book. The proposed regulation obliges EU importers of cement, electricity, fertilisers, iron & steel, and aluminium from third countries to purchase annual emission allowances. Their cost will depend on the degree of emissions embedded …
James Bacchus spoke with Rob Francis about the European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, trade in medicines and medical products, how the Biden Administration is progressing on trade policy – and the World Trade Organization in all this.
