Transnational Bodies

EU-Canada Deal Faces Obstacles in Romania, Belgium

April 29, 2016

Economy Watch reports that the governments of Romania, due to visa waiver restrictions on Romanian nationals, and Wallonia, a region in Belgium that is seeking further "guarantees" under the agreement, have refused to give their consent to the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ("CETA") agreed among negotiators in 2014.
Article: Global Economic Governance Requires Strong IMF

April 28, 2016

James Boughton of the Centre for International Governance Innovation ("CIGI") writes that the governments must focus their development of systematic global governance of monetary policy and the economy in a strengthened and more independent International Monetary Fund ("IMF").
IFC, Puma Push Suppliers on Environmental, Social Standards

April 21, 2016

The International Finance Corporation ("IFC") and sports apparel company Puma have launched an initiative providing financial incentives for companies in Puma's supply chain to abide by global social and environmental standards.
EU, World Bank Support Access to Climate Insurance Program

April 20, 2016

Amid growing global efforts to finance initiatives that seek to counter the effects of climate change, the World Bank and the European Commission have agreed to ease access of Latin American countries to "catastrophe risk insurance" under the Multi-Donor Trust Fund in recognition of the growing threat of global warming to these countries.
Booker: Global Governance Trends Minimize EU Importance

April 19, 2016

Journalist Christopher Booker asserts, in the context of the referendum on the UK's membership in the EU, that international organizations engaged in a broader push for global governance are overshadowing the importance of the EU in threats to democratic decision-making in Britain.
Working Party Objects to EU-US "Privacy Shield"

April 19, 2016

The so-called Article 29 Working Party, which is charged with reviewing EU data agreements, has issued objections to the European Commission's data transfer deal with the US, called "Privacy Shield," finding, among other problems, that the deal fails to comply with the bloc's data retention principles and that it does not prevent indiscriminate US government collection of personal data.
European Data Agencies Object to EU-US "Privacy Shield"

April 18, 2016

Politico reports that a working group made up of data authorities from EU member states has proposed significant changes to the deal the EU and the US have negotiated, called "Privacy Shield," that purports to provide for protections of data transfers from Europe to the US from mass surveillance conducted by US authorities.
IMF Warns of Dire Impact of UK Exit from EU

April 14, 2016

British euroskeptics have criticized the intervention of the International Monetary Fund ("IMF") in the UK's debate over leaving the EU in the IMF's most recent World Economic Outlook, which warns that such a move would cause "severe regional and global damage by disrupting established trading relationships."
OSCE Official Expresses Concern on Website Shutdown

April 12, 2016

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's ("OSCE") Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović has announced she is assessing the speech ramifications involved in the shutdown of a Russia-owned news portal in Lithuania in response to a letter from the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs questioning the legality of the portal.
Schaefer, Rosenzweig Call for US Caution on ICANN Transition

April 08, 2016

Brett Schaefer and Paul Rosenzweig of the Heritage Foundation write that, due to serious concerns with language in a proposal by a working group seeking to transfer the monitoring of ICANN, a body charged with coordinating internet functions, to a multistakeholder entity, the US should maintain stewardship of ICANN until it is certain that the new system works.