The negotiating mandates for the next round of Brexit talks are on the table. The European Union is making talks on a deal regulating EU/UK trade from 1 January 2021 conditional on reaching a fisheries agreement first - originally by July, although the precise timetable may be derailed by the...

Modern free trade agreements increasingly seek to address environmental and social concerns. While the EU pursues a dialogue-led 'soft approach', the United States relies on threats of trade sanctions. Colombia offers an interesting example in this connection. It has agreements with the United...

Las preocupaciones ecológicas y sociales están cada vez más ancladas en los tratados de libre comercio. Por parte de la UE, esto se hace a través de un enfoque al diálogo ('soft approach'); los EE. UU., a su vez, optan por amenazar con sanciones comerciales. En este contexto Colombia es un...

The international trading system is in flux. A spiral of protectionism threatens to expose the limits of the WTO's ability to protect against abuses and prevent trade wars. And the reason for this is astonishing: The US Administration believes that the existing rules - which the Americans...

The EU is currently negotiating a successor to its Cotonou Agreement of year 2000 with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. The political and economic con­text has changed enormously over the past two decades, with trade relations between the EU and the more developed ACP countries...

The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into force in May 2019. Ultimately the AfCFTA is designed to create a comprehensive African market; what is does at this stage is set in motion a set of complex and fore­seeably very lengthy negotiations. The...

In summer 2022, the European Union (EU) and India resumed negotiations on a free trade agreement to strengthen their strategic partnership. In addition, both sides are negotiating an investment protection agreement and an agreement on the protection of geographical indications. In this way, the...

In the European summer of 2027, the world faces a threat, not only to human health but also to biological diversity and food security. An alarming scenario is emerging: The rapidly thawing permafrost in the Russian tundra has released an unknown form of anthrax that is primarily transmitted by...

Once again, we have the same old story: The negotiations on a new financial framework for the European Union (EU) will also influence the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Critics of the CAP are increasingly using its development policy (side) effects in the debate: European subsidies would...

The transatlantic trade dispute is escalating: After the United States (US) introduced additional tariffs on steel and aluminium, hectic negotiations began with the European Union (EU). First, the EU obtained a temporary derogation before increasing tariffs on a long list of particularly...