Finance & Trade

UK Initiates Post-EU Bilateral Trade Talks

July 18, 2016

In the aftermath of the UK vote to leave the EU, British officials have announced that they are launching preliminary talks with India for a bilateral trade deal and that they will likely target the US, China, Japan, and South Korea in upcoming trade discussions.
EU: National Parliaments Must Approve Canada Deal

July 12, 2016

Sending a warning sign for negotiations of future EU trade deals, including with the US, Politico reports that the European Commission is now requiring that nearly 40 national and regional legislative assemblies across the EU ratify the EU-Canada trade agreement before the deal can come into force.
EU Official Denies Flexibility in "Single Market" Access

July 12, 2016

Following a meeting with leaders of the EU member states, European Council President Donald Tusk denied that, following negotiations over Brexit, the UK will retain access to the bloc's "single market" unless it accepts the EU's "four freedoms," including freedom of movement.
UK, EU Face Array of Post-Brexit Trade Options

July 11, 2016

An article in Reuters highlights an array of options available to the UK as it begins negotiating its future trade relationship with the EU following Brexit and quotes remarks from Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe that the EU will become more flexible on the terms of the UK's exit as the deadline for a new deal approaches.
French PM Rejects Possibility of TTIP

June 30, 2016

Predicting that the agreement will not "respect EU interests," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has rejected the possibility that the EU and US will conclude their Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal.
EU Creates Audit Oversight Body

June 29, 2016

In new rules on statutory auditing practices that recently came into effect, the EU has created the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies to facilitate the coordination and harmonization of auditing practices throughout the bloc.
Cleppe Calls on EU to Abandon Protectionism

June 28, 2016

Pieter Cleppe of the think tank Open Europe writes that the EU should not let its aluminum tariffs, which he asserts harm small and medium-sized enterprises, signal expanding trade protectionism across the bloc's essential industries that would reduce its overall competitiveness.
Dutch Minister Questions Application of EU Budget Rules

June 16, 2016

Following European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's statement that the EU had given France more leeway than other countries in enforcing budget rules "because it is France," Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem expressed concerns before a committee of the European Parliament about the fair application of EU fiscal regulations.
Irish PM Warns of Impact of EU Investment Rules

June 15, 2016

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has sent a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warning that a new classification by EU authorities of public-private investment projects as state spending poses a major threat to Irish infrastructure investment.
Moore: UK Should Leave EU's "Single Regulatory Regime"

June 14, 2016

Journalist Charles Moore writes that Britain should extricate its government and economy from the "single regulatory regime" of the EU, often referred to as the "single market," and maintain access to the markets of other EU countries, as it does with markets elsewhere in the world, for the buying and selling of UK goods and services.