News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Optimism surrounding the outcome of June’s WTO Ministerial has dissipated with regards to putting in place a fully functioning dispute settlement system. There is considerable economic risk from failure to which policy-makers should be paying much greater attention.
Leaders from 44 countries are holding an inaugural European Political Community meeting in Prague this week. The new forum could provide a setting for continent-wide dialogue and cooperation on critical trade issues linked to today’s challenges in the area of supply chain resilience or digital.
The new European Union proposal on prohibiting products made with forced labour triggered a discussion about the role of national authorities in its enforcement. This is only one example of the significant implementation and institutional challenges raised by Brussels’ new unilateral trade policy agenda.
Brussels has vociferously criticised provisions in the recently enacted US Inflation Reduction Act that provide a subsidy to consumers buying vehicles assembled in North America. EU leaders should be cautious in how they now proceed and avoid disagreements over climate change measures that descend into endless Airbus-Boeing style trade disputes.
Governments are facing tough decisions as rising energy prices threaten household and business budgets alike. This is a crisis of modern trade requiring serious consideration of what EU economic security means, and how trade policy should be adjusted accordingly.
There was an outcry in both Houses of Parliament in their last week before the summer recess over the absence of debate for the UK-Australia FTA and the prospect of a low-ambition trade agreement with India. The government’s approach to parliamentary scrutiny could turn into a risk factor for the …
There was a time when energy, climate and trade policy were considered largely separate. This is now changing.
With the recent conclusion of negotiations with New Zealand one can say that the European Union’s free trade agreement agenda has come back to life. But there are new challenges ahead for Brussels’ trade policy, not least making FTAs fit alongside unilateral measures that seek to regulate global markets or …
The United Kingdom government’s stated ambition to be a global free trade leader looks a distant prospect. Its trade policy lacks internal consistency, not least because it has not been given sufficient consideration.
Since a deal was reached at the World Trade Organization last Friday the trade policy community has been debating if has been achieved is only patching up the system or a good outcome that proves global deals can be reached. What is clear is that the WTO will never solve …
