Baroness Jenny Chapman, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Task Force Europe, commenting on the news that Britain and EU are £3bn apart on the Brexit divorce bill estimate, said: “Whatever we think of the sums involved, the difference between the EU’s and the UK’s assessment raises questions for Lord Frost. He was supposed to agree a formula…
Trade
Empowering Women Through Trade
The Renew Europe group has published and presented a new report focusing on empowering women through trade and tackling gender inequality. Women have diverse roles in society, as they are entrepreneurs who manage their own business, they are employees at companies, and they are consumers. “Incorporating gender mainstreaming in trade policy is crucial. Women worldwide…
Paper Recycling: Chinese Import Ban Impact
Cepi, the European association representing the paper industry, has been closely monitoring market developments in reaction to the material waste import ban by the Chinese authorities including paper for recycling, the redirection of global flows of paper for recycling and structural changes in paper consumption and collection during the Covid-19 crisis. While secondary raw materials…
Reject the EU Mercosur Agreement: Save the Rainforest
The Austrian Vice-Chancellor, Werner Kogler, insists to reject the EU-ercosur Agreement in a letter to Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa. The Austrian government calls to reject the EU Mercosur Agreement because it is in contradiction with the objectives of the Green Deal and the Paris Agreement. The Portuguese EU Presidency had announced that it would…
Step Forward in EU-US Trade Dispute
The EU and the U.S. have agreed to suspend all retaliatory tariffs on EU and U.S. exports imposed in the Airbus and Boeing disputes for a four-month period. The suspension allows both sides to focus on resolving this long-running dispute. It provides an important boost to EU exporters, since the U.S. had been authorised to…
The EU-UK Forum
A new initiative has been launched to help tackle some of the many issues raised by Brexit. The UK has now finally left the EU but problems have already emerged, just weeks after the much-vaunted trade and security agreement was thrashed out between the EU and UK on Christmas Eve. One such problem has been…
Reels of Red Tape Blocking UK/EU Trade
The British Meat Processors Association is receiving a growing number of calls from meat companies highlighting the plethora of problems they’ve been experiencing at the borders; problems which are now causing a serious and sustained loss of trade with our biggest export partner. Alongside seafood, fresh meat is one of the most time critical perishable products. Every…
Brexit Butty Chaos
After their Christmas recess, the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament is now due to comment on the trade agreement between the EU and the UK, in preparation for the Parliament’s vote in March on granting consent to the agreement. In the meanwhile less than two weeks into implementation of the agreement, EU-UK trade…
EU-UK Negotiations Set to Continue
The UK-EU trade deal prioritises sovereignty over economics. Politicians will soon be talking about how to improve the deal. Very little about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU has been settled, writes Charles Grant. One particular comment that I heard during the Brexit negotiations has lodged in my memory. In September 2020, a senior…
EP to Scrutinise EU-UK deal
On Monday 28 December, the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament and President David Sassoli exchanged views with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier on the deal reached on 24 December on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. The Conference of Presidents reiterated…