Tag: trade

Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have given the green light to start negotiations for a free trade agreement establishing the largest economic alliance in the world, which already accounts for some €455bn in trade and millions of jobs.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday (12 February) called for talks on a far-reaching free trade agreement with the European Union, throwing his weight behind a deal that would encompass half the world's economic output.

The decision by European heads of state to slash the budget for EU-wide roll out of fast broadband internet will stifle Europe’s innovation agenda, the European Commission warned, leaving telecom firms and member states to stump up the cash.

Mari Elka Pangestu, one of the nine candidates to succeed World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy in May, tells Euractiv about her “multilateral and inclusive” vision for the WTO. 

SPECIAL REPORT / A move by Finnish company Rovio to produce Hollywood-style blockbuster children’s cartoons demonstrates how innovators in the European tech scene are looking to capitalise on the digital revolution.

Moscow, which recently slammed Kyiv with a huge gas bill, said Monday (4 February) that an arrangement could be found. A Russian diplomat explained that the deal would not necessarily require Ukraine to join Moscow's proposed Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. 

The European Union dropped its ban on some US meat imports on Monday (4 February) in a gesture aimed at starting talks on a free-trade pact that would encompass about half the world's economic output.

EU trade officials are to meet their Chinese counterparts in Brussels tomorrow (1 February) in an attempt to resolve a trade spat after China rebuffed attempts by the European Commission to barter legal threats in return for access to the Chinese market.

Norway is failing to live up to its obligations as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), including imposing extra taxes on EU products and not implementing more than 400 directives, according to an EU report to be published later this year.

The EU’s top transport official says the troubled launch of a now-suspended high-speed rail service between Brussels and Amsterdam - christened the ‘flop train’ by angry passengers - is “not our problem” despite years of efforts to encourage such premium transnational rail service.

Four American senators have expressed concern that possible trade talks between the European Union and United States may not dismantle longstanding EU barriers to US pork, beef, poultry and other farm products.

SPECIAL REPORT / European industries are unanimous in saying that future growth prospects lie in research and innovation. They have thrown their weight behind the European Commission and Parliament to secure the proposed €80 billion 'Horizon 2020' research programme which is under fire as cash-strapped national governments seek cutbacks to the EU budget.

SPECIAL REPORT / A green light to start talks on a transatlantic free trade agreement (FTA) is likely to come early next month, EurActiv has learned, lifting European industries' hopes that increased demand from the US will help turn around its fortunes.

SPECIAL REPORT / European Union leaders are in broad agreement over the need to encourage manufacturing industries. But walking the talk will require reforms at EU level – on energy, climate and trade – that require clearer support from European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, argues Gordon Moffat, from the Eurofer steel association.

SPECIAL REPORT / After a year of closures, sackings and cut-backs, arguments about how to turn European industry around will be to the fore this year as debate intensifies around the correct policy response, and doubts linger over the EU’s ability to deliver.

A free-trade agreement between India and the European Union has entered its final stage and negotiators "are looking at a possible conclusion" by spring, the Indian ambassador to the EU told EurActiv.

A European Commission plan to reduce a glut of carbon emissions allowances, which are trading close to record lows, can pass provided it gets German support, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said.

Greenland's prime minister said on Monday (14 January) he has rejected requests from the European Union to block access to its deposits of rare earths, strategically important metals in which China has a near monopoly.

The high-level working group on growth and jobs, set up at the last EU-US summit in November 2011, will give the go-ahead to launch negotiations for a transatlantic trade agreement, said Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

In a major victory for Google Inc., US regulators ended their investigation into the giant internet company and concluded that it had not manipulated its Web search results to hurt rivals. But a parallel probe being conducted by the European Union continues.

A new digital industrial policy designed to create a company equivalent to Airbus is amongst seven new priority focuses launched yesterday (18 December ) by Neelie Kroes, the EU commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

A coalition of grape growers, farm groups and major wine-producing countries appear to have won concessions to European Commission proposals for liberalising vine planting rights that are due to expire by 2016.

Battles over financing and revamping Europe’s agricultural policy are almost certain to push implementation of the future programme beyond next year’s deadline, government and industry officials say.

MEPs approved free-trade accords with Colombia, Peru and six Central American nations today (11 December), giving them permanent access to the EU's 500 million consumers and offering the EU's stagnant economy new markets for its cars and luxury goods.