Brussels Briefing on Trade

In this latest Brussels Briefing on Trade, Joanna Sopinska – Trade reporter for EU Trade Insights, provides an overview of the EU’s most pressing trade issues in the fist half of February.

• On February 1st, during the EP Plenary,  MEPs will discuss a draft report by Viviane Reding on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). The same day TiSA negotiators will meet in Geneva for a 16th round of talks.
• Also on February 1st, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will provide her reply to the INTA Committee’s question on China’s request for Market Economy Status.
• On the same day, the Dutch Presidency will provide the INTA Committee with its plan to break the deadlock over signing the Mauritius Convention on the transparency rules in ISDS proceedings.
• On the 2nd of February, the Dutch Presidency will convene an informal Trade Council in Amsterdam, NL. Ministers will focus on three main issues:
  • A post-Nairobi dialogue on the future format of the WTO negotiations and a progress in the ongoing negotiations on the Environmental Goods Agreement and the TiSA.
• A way forward in the TTIP negotiations in view of the next negotiating round scheduled for 22nd of February in Brussels.
• China’s request for market economy status (MES). Over the lunch, development ministers will join their trade counterparts to discuss how to integrate EU trade and development policies better to promote sustainability