Brussels Briefing on Trade – All you need to know for 1-15 March 2016

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 first half of March 2016.

• On February 29, TTIP negotiators will meet again to exchange public procurement offers and to thoroughly discuss them during 3-day inter-sessional talks in the US.
• Still on February 29, EU-Japan FTA bilateral negotiations will resume talks after a long break. Market access for goods, non-tariff measures, public procurement and geographical indications will be back on the table.
• On March 3, Commissioner Malmström will take part in the EU-ASEAN Annual Consultations in Thailand.
• On March 9, Commissioner Malmström will hold political talks with US officials in Washington DC in a bid to boost TTIP negotiations and to close as many gaps as possible by the August summer break.
• On March 14, INTA Committee Members will meet for a two-day session to discuss EU trade and economic relations with Latin America.  The INTA Committee is also expected to adopt an oral question on Mercosur – MEPs want to know whether the Commission is determined to re-launch the talks, and if so, under what conditions. Following ‘TTIP Week’, MEPs are to hold an exchange of views on the Commission’s follow-up report, in response to their 2015 TTIP recommendations.