Subsidies, digital and Indo-Pacific, but also Ukraine and Mercosur. These currently are the bread-and-butter trade issues in Brussels – and developments this week were very representative. Von der Leyen announces duty suspension extension for Ukraine European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Thursday (2 February) an extension to …
EU trade policies
EU and Singapore formalise digital partnership
The EU and Singapore signed a bilateral digital partnership in Brussels which could pave the way towards binding rules covering diverse aspects of digital trade.
THINK TANK: The weaponisation of trade
Foreign policy think tanks, usually absent from the trade policy conversations, are now busy working with trade. Weaponisation of trade, export controls, and European tech sovereignty are the themes addressed by two Berlin-based think tanks in recent days: the European Council on Foreign Relations and the German Council on Foreign …
Blog : More of the same? On the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan
Those in the trade policy world who are looking for some big bang announcement from the European Commission as part of its ‘response’ to the United States Inflation Reduction Act will be disappointed – or relieved, depending on their point of view. The Green Deal Industrial Plan, a leaked version …
Comment – EU export control policy weakness exposed with US-Netherlands deal
The world where export controls in the European Union were a highly technical affair focused on keeping dangerous items out of the hands of a few so-called ‘rogue’ states in a United States-led post Cold War order is now dead. In comes a world harking back to Cold War export …
Week in Brussels: Latin American FTAs, trilogue troubles, Brit subsidy and cyber worries
It’s been a dense and intense week in EU trade. Here a few snippets. By Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer. Sweden wants those FTAs – but there’s trouble ahead on the Latin American front Sweden’s trade minister Johan Forssell confirmed on Tuesday (24 January) that the Swedish presidency of the …
EU, Thailand revive FTA preparation process
The European Commission announced late on Wednesday (25 January) that it would be launching consultations with Thailand with the aim of restarting trade talks.
European Commission mulls common customs ‘data space’
The European Commission is preparing a new package of measures and regulations to help harmonise customs procedures across the European Union’s 27 member states.
MEPs on Chips Act: joint decision-making, priority orders a last resort
The members of the European Parliament’s industry committee voted overwhelmingly to allow the European Commission to activate emergency measures in case of future shortages of semiconductors within the EU.
Dombrovskis on green and tech subsidies: let’s not imitate the United States
Key take-aways from EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis’ first remarks on 2023 trade policy at the international trade committee today.