Following complaints from hundreds of truckers and freight transport businesses concerning road blockades and banditry in the El Guergerat region in the Moroccan Sahara, Morocco’s security forces today took action to restore the free movement of goods and people in the region. The “Polisario” and its militias entered the area on 21 October, carried out…
Joe Biden in the White House would remove the threat of a US-EU trade war from the table, and open up new areas for co-operation. But the US and EU would still disagree on many issues, particularly how best to deal with China, writes Sam Lowe. The EU’s trade relationship with the US has suffered…
A Scottish start-up which develops technology to keep consumers safe online has struck a deal with the Lithuanian government to crack down on illicit trade. Vistalworks will spearhead closer ties between Scotland and Lithuania’s GovTech Lab, which encourages innovative solutions to help governments address a range of challenges. Glasgow-based Vistalworks is the only UK firm…
The European Parliament says it supports legislation that aims to ensure the tunnel railway connecting continental Europe and the UK continues to operate safely and efficiently. MEPs endorsed on Thursday two proposals concerning the Channel Tunnel with the goal to maintain the same set of rules governing the whole railway tunnel once the UK has…
Much ink has been spilled on the topic of the relationship between the European Union and the People’s Republic of China over recent weeks; from imbalanced trade to values and principles, writes Ming-Yen Tsai. As the EU recalibrates its policy towards China, it is worth remembering the position of strength the EU finds itself in…
A new report commissioned by the French government on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, to be presented to French Prime Minister today shows that solely the expansion of beef production in the Mercosur region as a result of the deal would accelerate deforestation by at least 25% annually and destroy 36,000 km2 of forest per year, which…
The European Parliament has called for stricter EU-wide controls on EU arms exports, better end-use control of exported arms, more coordination of national decisions on arms exports, a publicly accessible database on national arms exports and, for arms subsidised through the European Defence Fund, a sanctions mechanism for breaches of the eight EU export criteria….
The European Parliament has called for the EU to be more self-sufficient when it comes to medicines and medical equipment so that affordable treatments are available at any time. Parliament addresses the root causes of recent medicine shortages in a resolution, adopted by 663 votes to 23 and 10 abstentions. MEPs call for an increased…
In a new review, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) looks at the multiple risks – mainly of an economic and political nature – China’s state-driven investment strategy poses to the EU, as well as the opportunities it presents. The auditors warn the EU faces several challenges in managing its response, including how to better…
The UKCG and the European Parliament political group leaders issued the following statement after meeting late on Friday with Chief EU Negotiator Michel Barnier and Joint Committee Co-Chair Maroš Šefčovič. The European Parliament’s UK Coordination Group (UKCG) met to assess the impact of the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill on the implementation of the Withdrawal…
