The paradise paradox: Maldives, a sinking country?
- Environment and Energy, Human Rights and Migration, Op-ed
- 24/03/2019
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between EU and Canada promises to create a better business environment on both sides of the Atlantic. When applied, the CETA will strive to remove customs duties, open up to the services market, end the restrictions on access to public contracts and support future investors. Moreover, the agreement is designed to support standards, especially those that Europeans are sensitive about such as food safety and worker’s rights.
READ MORENo, it is not beer. It is coffee. The beverage that inspired Johan Sebastian Bach to write the Coffee Cantata is a distinct and important part of our lives and cultures. Being a major export commodity nowadays, coffee is a part of the extremely developed market with a very complex production chain. While big coffee players are striving to be “green”, with a strong hue of sustainability, it is questionable how green it is, especially when considering the way coffee is being produced.
READ MOREBeing designed to promote trade and multilateral economic growth, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a proposed trade agreement between the United States and the European Union. In its essence, the agreement aims to boost the trade by removing trade barriers as well as to expand corporate profits through the standardization of the legal regulations in the US and EU.
READ MOREThe EU tends to be a credible force in fighting the illegal logging and related trade issues. For that reason, the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) in its essence fights illegal logging matters by prohibiting the placement of any illegally sourced timber and timber products on the European market. Three years after it entered into force, the regulation seems to be ineffective by failing to prohibit illegally logged wood products from entering the EU market. On top of that, the regulation could have a detrimental effect in developing countries by potentially harming their progress.
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