This paper weighs the case for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Taiwan. It focuses on the role Taiwan has to play in the EU's economic and geopolitical strategy in Asia. Taiwan is one of the key players in the world's Information and Communication Technology (ICT)...

Four years after the launch of Global Europe - the European Union's trade strategy from 2006 - policymakers are now confronted with the first negotiated agreement with one of the rising economic powers in the Far East. The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement (hereafter EUKOR) is the first of Europe's...

A new trade war is looming as the EU is now embarking on its first countervailing duty (CVD) against Chinese subsidies over coated fine paper. As the EU gives a significant amount of subsidies to local production, China is not short of sectors to retaliate against - especially as the evidence in...

The crisis-struck EU finds it increasingly difficult to engage in trade negotiations with large-sized economies that would have a meaningful impact on growth. Some parts of the European car industry are opposing a FTA with Japan due to defensive interests following the crisis in EU car...

Services liberalisation has perhaps suffered from the deadlock of the WTO more than any other area of trade. As the discussions of a potential plurilateral agreement amongst a select group of countries continue, more questions are raised than answered. In a new policy brief by Hosuk...

This paper concerns Europe's ability to continue its trade strategy into large scale FTAs that are necessary to sustain EU industrial capacities. The first challenge for Europe is the EU- Japan FTA, whose merits have been met with scepticism due to Japan's lack of openness. Such notions are...

Following an FTA with Korea, the EU now takes up the ambitious task of negotiating an FTA with Japan. Inarguably, "big" FTAs are the way forward in the search for growth, but in parallel, the EU should aim to diversify its regional outreach to rebalance trade accounts. In this sense, Taiwan has...

Given the unsatisfactory deployment of fibre based Next Generation Access (NGAs) networks in the EU, the European Commission proposes in a draft recommendation from December 2012 that wholesale prices for access to the copper networks should be between €8-10. This means that the former...

This policy brief outlines the chronology of the developments since Edward Snowden leaked the documents on large-scale electronic surveillance, including PRISM and Tempora programmes, the policy implications and the public's response. It concludes that the nature of the debate has shifted from a...

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was launched with highest of ambitions. Yet after more than 500 days of negotiations, the results are plainly discouraging. The EU and the US misunderstood each other's intention on market access, and deteriorated into retaliatory...