Video viEUws.eu: EU Trade Briefing: EU-Ukraine referendum, Mercosur, TiSA and TTIP

Met dank overgenomen van viEUws - The EU Policy Broadcaster, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 5 april 2016.

In this latest Brussels Briefing on Trade, Joanna Sopinska - Trade Editor for EU Trade Insights, provides an overview of the EU’s most pressing trade issues in the first half of April 2016.

  • On 6 April, the Dutch will vote in a non-binding referendum on the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Trade Agreement (DCFTA). Recent opinion polls show that the “no campaign” might win majority of votes. But it is expected that a potential negative outcome of the referendum will not destabilise the EU-Ukraine trade relations in a short-term. The DCFTA signed on the 27th of June 2014 will continue to apply provisionally in the EU. According to experts, only a unanimous decision by EU leaders can suspend the deal - a situation that has no precedent in the EU history.
  • On 8 April, the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Minister, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, will come to Brussels for talks on the re-launch of the EU-Mercosur free trade negotiations. Together with the EU Trade Commissioner Malmström, they are expected to set a date for the long-awaited exchange of the revised market access offers - most probably in early May.
  • On 11 April, the 17th negotiating round on Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) will start in Geneva with a special focus on bringing the text of all Annexes on digital issues and on Mode 4 closer to stabilisation.
  • Also on 11 April, EU Trade Commissioner Malmström and the US Trade Representative Michael Froman will meet in London to take stock of progress in the TTIP negotiations ahead of the next negotiating round scheduled for 25-29 April in New York.

This EU Trade briefing was first published on EU Trade Insights, more information here.