News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Saturday, February 4, 2023
A lot of micro-stories this week in trade policy in Brussels that could become significant over time. Below an update on the EU US Trade and Technology Council, digital partnerships, FDI screening, the Chips Act and Mercosur. By Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer.
The European Commission is preparing a new piece of legislation that aims to boost production of next-generation semiconductors in Europe, a European Chips Act: its trade and investment policy dimension will be a spot to watch.
The European Commission is broadening the coverage of its two-year-old investment screening regulation to include new EU-funded technological projects. On the face of it, the expansion is relatively modest. But it marks another step in the EU’s shift to taking care of its ‘strategic autonomy’ both in the security and …
The European Commission released a 2021 Strategic Foresight Report. This report is is an important signalling device on where Brussels intends to take the EU in the coming years with the blessing of its most powerful member states. And that path clearly heralds a trend towards more investment and trade …
If one is to believe Charles Michel, Angela Merkel and Ursula von der Leyen, today’s online Leaders’ Meeting with China’s president Xi Jinping was productive.
A report by the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union reveals a few key Beijing ‘asks’ in current negotiations as EU China meetings and negotiations are set to intensify this autumn.
The European Commission is encouraging member states to actively protect critical medical and healthcare assets. In ‘guidelines’ released on Wednesday night, the EU executive body is seeking to fast-forward the implementation of a regulation on the screening of foreign direct investments that is only due to come into force in …
The ritual early September rentrée week in Brussels was all about who will get which jobs in the incoming European Commission. There is a sense that the European Union is at a historically critical juncture. Preoccupations centre on transatlantic relations, China, US-China, Brexit and populism. This is set to have …
The European Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority today in favour of an EU-wide investment screening mechanism. Here the main points of the new piece of legislation.
The European Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a new ‘screening’ mechanism for foreign direct investments. The new regulation mainly enables information sharing among member states on investments into sectors deemed sensitive through a mechanism coordinated by the European Commission. The aim is to watch investments that could jeopardise security …
