Finance & Trade

Canada, EU Sign Comprehensive Trade Agreement

November 01, 2016

The BBC reports that the EU and Canada have signed their Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement after negotiators made last-minute amendments to the deal to overcome objections from the Parliament of Wallonia in Belgium on environmental, labor, and consumer standards.
EU Touts Billions in Spending on "Climate Finance"

October 28, 2016

The European Commission has announced that EU institutions and member states contributed €17.6 billion to combat and lessen the impacts of global warming in poor countries as part of plans to spend at least 20 percent of its budget on "climate-related action" in the years 2014-2020.
CETA Delay Signals Future EU Trade Struggles

October 26, 2016

Paul Taylor writes that the delays and potential failure of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement due to the objections of a Belgian regional government show the difficulty of rallying the support of 28 different member states behind a single trade deal and signal the future struggles of EU leaders in negotiating external free trade agreements.
UK Officials Spot Brexit Warning Signs in CETA

October 26, 2016

The Telegraph reports that UK officials are concerned with the implications of the staunch resistance of a Belgian region to the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement for future negotiations over a UK-EU trade deal following Brexit, as some British observers call for a clean break with the bloc to avoid paralyzing trade talks.
Iceland Seeks UK's Return to EFTA

October 26, 2016

In recent remarks, Icelandic Foreign Minister Lilja Alfredsdottir said negotiating a post-Brexit return of the UK to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which the UK left to join the trade area that would become the EU, would be a priority of the country's chairmanship of EFTA in the coming months.
NGO Analyzes Importance of EU Financial Services Access

October 25, 2016

A report from think tank Open Europe that reviews the weight the UK should give to each aspect of the EU's financial services "passport" in its negotiations with the bloc over a post-Brexit trade and investment agreement places greater emphasis on the maintenance of ties in the banking sector than on links in the asset management and insurance industries.
EU's Cheese Demands Reveal Trade Deal Complications

October 24, 2016

A new report warning of the significant costs related to the EU's proposal that its Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the US extend the protection of "geographic indications" on food products to cheeses such as feta and parmesan indicates the bloc's difficulty in navigating the competing interests of its 28 member states in complex trade negotiations.
UK, New Zealand Move Toward Post-Brexit Trade Deal

October 20, 2016

The UK and New Zealand have announced that they will hold regular talks on trade policy in order to prepare for the negotiation of a free trade deal between the countries when Britain leaves the EU.
Moody's: UK Banks Will Survive Loss of EU "Passports"

September 20, 2016

Moody's Investors Service has published research predicting relatively little change in UK banks' ability to operate in EU countries following Britain's exit from the bloc and asserting that the loss of these banks' "passporting" rights, permitting them to operate throughout the EU, will have only a "modest" effect on financial activity.
UK Could Face Legal Action over Pre-Brexit Trade Talks

September 20, 2016

Documents leaked to The Times show that UK Secretary for International Trade Liam Fox has received legal advice warning that the EU institutions and other EU member states could take Britain to EU court if Britain, prior to leaving the bloc, engages in preliminary trade talks with other countries negotiating a trade deal with the EU.