The EU and Chile recently concluded negotiations to upgrade a twenty-year old Association Agreement that includes a free trade agreement. The text is now available So: what’s particularly interesting about this agreement? By Chris Horseman, Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer.
Social & human rights
Week in Brussels: TTC follow-up, Mercosur woes, essentialising labour and environment in FTAs
It’s been a very busy week, starting with a transatlantic TTC meeting, continuing with the Australian trade minister coming to Brussels, and a long-awaited trade deal with Chile finally announced today. There’s more that happened. Selection below.
Week in Brussels: Eyeing Kazakh and Namibian raw materials, Korea, United States
A final glimpse into this week’s EU trade policy. By Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer.
EU ministers want FTA labour and environment chapters to be upgraded
EU foreign affairs ministers want the European Commission to review the labour and environmental provisions of free trade agreements that are already in force.
Week in Brussels: Israel, Vietnam, TSD
We are entering the thick of the autumn and trade policy activity is at its highest for many months in Brussels.
Week in Brussels: South East Asia, labour, Brazil quotas, trade defence, ECT
A big week in EU trade. Very Asia-focused, but not only. CETA and the Energy Charter Treaty were also in focus. By Rob Francis, Chris Horseman and Iana Dreyer.
EU to take time with forced labour ban enactment
The European Commission released its long-awaited legislative proposal aiming at weeding out products from the EU’s market made with forced labour. The EU executive puts the onus on national authorities to monitor imports as well as products that have originated within the EU for signs of forced labour in their …
FTAs: European Commission spells out new TSD chapter deployment strategy
The European Commission is not planning to reopen negotiations with Latin American countries to amend the sustainable development chapters in agreed but not-yet ratified bilateral trade agreements. But it is planning to apply its new approach to ongoing and any new FTA negotiations.
Blog: Of Ombudsman reports and EU trade policy
The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, very recently published a report calling on the European Commission to set up “a new and separate complaint-handling portal for alleged human rights abuses” in countries with whom the European Union has a trade agreement.
ANALYSIS – EU-New Zealand FTA: sustainable development novelties
This article introduces the ‘sustainable development’ aspects within the recently concluded EU New Zealand FTA. The analysis is based on the draft text of the treaty published very recently by the European Commission. By Rob Francis, with a little bit of extra input from Iana Dreyer.