EU leaders will urge co-legislators in the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to examine “as a matter of priority” the possibility to sanction countries breaching trade rules and blocking the dispute settlement process, according to the latest version of the summit conclusions seen by EURACTIV.
As the international system for settling trade disputes is set to become crippled on Tuesday (10 December), Europe will in the coming days propose ways to bolster its sanction toolbox against countries that adopt ilegal trade measures and block the renewal of WTO’s appellate body.
France is ready to go to the World Trade Organization to challenge US President Donald Trump's threat to put tariffs on champagne and other French goods in a row over a French tax on internet companies, its finance minister said on Sunday (8 December).
The European Commission wants to settle the latest trade dispute with the US over the French digital tax “amicably”, but warned that the bloc will “react as one” if Washington slaps tariffs on Paris.
The US government on Monday (2 November) said it may slap punitive duties of up to 100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France of Champagne, handbags, cheese and other products, after concluding that France's new digital services tax would harm US tech companies.
After three years of blocking negotiations, the European Council finally voted on whether to secure fiscal transparency in the EU. True to form, they voted against it, writes Luis Garicano.
European Union plans to allow more US beef imports cleared a key hurdle on Monday (25 November) when EU lawmakers specialising in trade backed the move, which is likely to ease transatlantic tensions.
A much-awaited draft law criminalising tobacco smuggling is expected to be approved by the Ukrainian parliament by the end of the year or in early 2020, the Mission of Ukraine to the EU told EURACTIV.com.
While US President Donald Trump is taking aggressive action against China's trade policy, the German government is reluctant to comment on the recent events in Hong Kong because the German economy needs China. EURACTIV's partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pledge to have ‘zero-tolerance’ for child labour in EU trade policy is a promising step. Delphine Moralis explains how these warm words can be turned into concrete actions to improve the lives of millions of children.
Products from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories must be labelled to avoid confusion with products that come from Israel itself, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday (12 November), in a move that provoked an angry response from pro-Israel lobbyists.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Europe can be a "power broker" between the United States and China, as the two countries continue to quarrel over the details of a future deal aimed to end the current trade impasse.
Outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker does not believe US President Donald Trump will impose tariffs on imported European cars next week, he told Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The jury is out on whether a new EU-Vietnam trade pact will do anything to improve people's livelihoods and arrest a deteriorating human rights record, writes Jude Kirton-Darling.
America's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord might only be temporary if a Democrat wins the White House in 2020. The effect on trade policy could be significant in the meantime. EURACTIV France reports.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Shanghai on Monday (4 November), accompanied by a European Commissioner and a German minister. Europeans finally feel they have a card to play against China, while Washington remains opposed to Beijing. EURACTIV's partner Ouest-France reports.
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has released 2018 figures showing its presence in Europe provided a €12.8 billion stimulus to the EU's economy, backing the company's claim that it has become an essential element of Europe's digital ecosystem.
No one except Donald Trump himself benefits from the ongoing trade wars, which harm the global value chain, Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee told EURACTIV Poland.
German businesses are nonplussed with the new Brexit extension, thanks to the uncertainty it preserves. But export forecasts are nonetheless seeing an increase, something which has more to do with Donald Trump than with the UK's pending EU exit. EURACTIV Germany reports.
EU trade policy has gained momentum in recent years with several notable agreements concluded – CETA, Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam, Mercosur. Keeping the momentum in the 2019–2024 mandate is not a certainty.
The EU poultry meat sector was sacrificed in order to convince Brazil to seal the Mercosur trade agreement. But the impact on the sector in Europe is expected to be very heavy, the association of poultry processors told EURACTIV.com.
Europe is prepared to step up its response to unfair trade practices and push for a renewed WTO, aiming to display a more assertive stance towards its partners in the future.
A global rise in investor lawsuits against nation-sates is putting climate protection laws under threat, activists warn. Now, the EU is pushing to set up its own investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system. EURACTIV Germany reports.