Finance & Trade

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.
Ex-Minister: TTIP Failure Boosts US-UK Trade Deal Prospects

September 20, 2016

Observing that negotiations over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and the EU "are not looking good," former UK Trade Minister Lord Francis Maude has called on British and US negotiators to use the underlying basis of the deal to come to a quick free trade deal between the countries following Brexit.
Bank Chief: "Hard" Brexit Would Strip Passporting Rights

September 20, 2016

German Central Bank President Jens Weidmann has warned that UK banks will not be able to maintain their "passporting" rights, or the privilege to conduct operations across EU member states, if Britain does not remain at least in the European Economic Area, which would require acceptance of the free movement of people from the EU.
Bulgarian Official Seeks Accession to Euro, Schengen

September 16, 2016

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev has called for his government and EU officials to take further steps toward permitting Bulgaria to join the euro currency, blamed by some critics as stifling growth in small economies, and the passport-free Schengen travel area.
German Politician Seeks Flexibility on EU Free Movement

September 14, 2016

The head of the German Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Norbert Roettgen, has called for EU leaders to be flexible in negotiations with the UK over the country's acceptance of free movement in return for access to the EU's single market following Brexit, arguing that officials should be considering options "out of the box."
Australian PM Seeks "Strong" Trade Agreement with UK

September 09, 2016

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that his government is planning to negotiate a "very strong, very open free trade agreement" with Britain upon the country's departure from the EU.
Banks Call for Interim Deal on "Passporting" in EU

September 02, 2016

Bloomberg reports that representatives of international banks are calling on UK Prime Minister Theresa May to negotiate an interim agreement with the EU to preserve their "passporting" rights to offer services in other EU countries as they seek to prevent a cut-off of their continental operations during a drawn-out Brexit negotiation process.