Tag: trade agreement

A globe showing Europe and Africa laid out on dark grass to illustrate whether trade policy can be sustainable sustainable

The EU’s trade policy can be sustainable – and here is how

With the failure of the World Trade Organisation to address climate issues in trade, BEUC's Mykyta Sobko looks at how to tackle the pressing issues of sustainability and consumer concerns in trade policies.

/ March 14, 2024

Consumer rights in trade agreements: a missing element?

In the past years, consumer organisations have worked intensively on the EU’s trade agreements with the US (TTIP) and Canada (CETA). We’ve stressed the advantages and challenges of these agreements and demanded that consumers benefit from them. For better or...

/ June 7, 2017

Let’s Move Away from a Fossilised Vision of the Consumer Benefits of Trade

Last week, US and EU consumer groups joined in the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue met in Washington DC for their annual meeting. In this guest blog, Susan Grant, Director of Consumer Protection and Privacy, Consumer Federation of America, shares her impressions....

/ March 30, 2017

TTIP is hibernating. So let’s improve it.

At this point it’s perhaps a bit cliché to say it, but free trade is on shaky ground. Public support for trade liberalisation is waning, the Financial Times illustrated. This scepticism is very much highlighted by wrangling on a proposed...

and / November 25, 2016

Did TTIP push the EU to scrap precaution on endocrine disruptors?

Last month, the European Commission broke a promise it had made to you and all other EU citizens. The promise? That the EU will not trade away the ’precautionary principle’ to strike a trade deal with the United States (known...

/ July 14, 2016

Since when is TTIP not a BIG deal?

From “most important leak ever” to “much ado about nothing”, the analyses from different commentators of yesterday’s TTIP revelations couldn’t be wider-ranging. In a blog post, Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström tried to soft-pedal the importance of the leaks by saying...

/ May 3, 2016

TiSA mandate: a simple piece of paper or a symbol of democratic scrutiny?

While TTIP is in the spotlight… The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are not the only big trade negotiations happening now. The EU and 22 other member states[1] of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are currently negotiating a multi-party...

/ April 3, 2015

The new EU proposal on cosmetics: Finally beyond lip service?

Last week, the Commission discretely[1] published on its trade website a new version of its position paper on cosmetics within The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The main difference with the previous paper is that it no longer contains...

/ March 17, 2015

New year, new TTIP?

January kicked-off with three exciting developments on TTIP. It seems that in the wake of the 8th negotiating round of February TTIP has finally left its extended winter sleep. European Commission transparency “offensive” It started last week Wednesday when Commissioner...

/ January 16, 2015

The Micula case: When ISDS messes with EU law

The mooted Investor-State Arbitration System (ISDS) is one of the most controversial elements of the ongoing TTIP negotiations. Much to the surprise of negotiators, ISDS is one of the driving forces behind recent major public protests throughout Europe against TTIP....

/ October 27, 2014