In a plenary debate on the future of EU trade policy in a changing global reality, the EESC stressed that open, fair, inclusive and sustainable trade is the only trade that will deliver a resilient recovery and bring prosperity to business and people. It also acknowledged the key role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)…
David Frost (Lord Frost), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Minister for Brexit, delivered a speech in Portugal today outlining his proposals for Northern Ireland. We publish here without comment the text of his speech in full. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen A year and a half ago, in the days immediately after the UK finally left…
The EU and Colombia have agreed on a “Memorandum of Understanding on an Agenda of enhanced political and sectoral dialogue and cooperation for the next decade”. It was signed on Wednesday by High Representative Josep Borrell and the Vice-President and Foreign Minister of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez in New York, in the presence of the…
BusinessEurope, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and EuroCham Maroc have adopted a “Modernisation Pact on Trade and Investment between the European Union (EU) and the Kingdom of Morocco”. The document calls for a long overdue modernisation of the framework for EU-Morocco trade and investment relations to unleash the untapped economic potential of this…
The EU institutions have been urged to act urgently in the case of Pakistan’s alleged continued human rights abuses. A coalition of respected human rights NGOs, coming together under the umbrella of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), delivered a letter to the EU’s High Representative Josep Borrell, calling for the suspension of Pakistan’s GSP+ status, which…
Widening gaps on supermarket shelves and the promise of shortages of Christmas favourites like turkey and pigs-in-blankets have exposed a major flaw in the Government’s handling of the ongoing UK labour crisis and a new report. The report highlights the scale of the problem by stating that of the 953,000 current vacancies across all sectors in the UK,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
