The Council has adopted a regulation updating the EU’s fishing rights for 2022 to incorporate the agreement reached with the UK in December 2021. The regulation sets out the final total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for member states in the Atlantic and North Sea, taking into account fish stocks subject to bilateral consultations. Changes to the previous year’s TACs […]
Negotiations on the future EU-Mexico trade agreement
A delegation of trade MEPs will be in Mexico to discuss the prospects for the modernized EU-Mexico agreement and other issues on the bilateral economic and trade agenda. Between February 22 and 24, a six-member delegation of the International Trade Commission (INTA) will meet with representatives of the Mexican Congress and government, industrial organizations, European […]
Europe’s priorities in the field of agriculture and fisheries
Following the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 17 January 2022, the European ministers set several objectives and priorities in the field of agriculture and fisheries. Agriculture – Priorities of the French presidency These priorities include, on the one hand, the reciprocity of trading standards – in other words, ensuring (chiefly by means of ‘mirror […]
Spain’s top maritime freight transport and commerce in Algeciras, Valencia, and Barcelona
Weight of goods handled by EU ports dropped by 7% in 2020. In 2020, EU ports handled around 3.3 billion tonnes of goods in gross weight, a substantial decrease compared with 2019 (-7%). This fall can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions put in place across the Member States and worldwide. After reaching a new […]
EU reinforces its leading position in global agri-food trade
2020 marked another improvement in the EU’s leading position among the world’s biggest exporters of agri-food products. On the import side, the EU has become the third largest importer after the United States and China, according to a report published on september 8th 2020 was an exceptionally challenging, yet successful year for EU agri-food trade, which […]
Traineeships at the EFTA Secretariat
The Secretariat of the European Free Trade Association offers traineeships, for 11 months, to nationals its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The traineeships aim to provide junior civil servants and other qualified applicants with opportunities for training and familiarisation with the work of the EFTA Secretariat. Traineeships take place to the EFTA Secretariat Headquarters in Brussels, Geneva, Luxembourg respectively from 1st September […]
EU reaches political agreement on updated enforcement regulation
The Council presidency has reached an agreement with the European Parliament on a revised enforcement regulation. The aim of this regulation is to better protect the EU’s trade interests and rights in the context of the current blockage of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement system. The regulation also ensures that the EU can […]
Foreign Affairs Council (Trade), 12 March 2020
Agenda highlights Trade ministers will focus on the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference, recent developments in trade relations with China and the United States, as well as the impact the COVID-19 outbreak could have on supply chains and trade flows. WTO Ministerial Conference The Council will review the preparations for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, taking place on 8 to 11 June 2020 in Nur-Sultan, […]
Trade: EU and 16 WTO members agree to work together on an interim appeal arbitration arrangement
The EU and Ministers from 16 Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have agreed to develop a multi-party interim appeal arrangement that will allow the participating WTO members to preserve a functioning and two-step dispute settlement system at the WTO in disputes among them. This initiative was launched in mid-December 2019 by the EU and a […]