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Environment & trade agreements: a peaceful coexistence?0
- Environment and Energy, International Trade, Op-ed
- 20/04/2018
Trade facilitation enhances environmental degradation, and this has to be addressed by policy makers. The noxious impact of trade on the environment is undeniable: it generates pollution through transportation (one of the most harmful economic sectors) and by fostering large-scale production for greater growth.
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The CMU initiative: Is a hard Brexit really an option?0
- Financial Policy and International Markets, Op-ed
- 11/04/2018
With Brexit approaching, the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative acquires greater importance for the EU financial system. Faced with the looming threat of losing its pivotal financial centre and the risks it will entail, the European Commission counts on the CMU to reinforce the EU financial market. At the same time, bilateral financial relationships are too close and intertwined to imagine that a hard Brexit will provoke no harm and negotiators, being aware of the risks, make their moves carefully.
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Selmayrgate: The European Commission’s House of Cards0
- EU Governance and Politics, Op-ed
- 31/03/2018
The high-speed double promotion of Martin Selmayr from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s Head of Cabinet to secretary-general of the European Commission hardly went unnoticed. Selmayr succeeded the former secretary-general, Alexander Italianer, as the head of a workforce of 33,000 Commission civil servants in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t long before shots started getting fired from different directions.
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A troubled journey ahead: Theresa May’s trade bill0
- International Trade, Op-ed
- 21/03/2018
The House of Commons is currently reviewing a package of laws, introduced over the last year by Theresa May’s government, which will have a major impact on the post-Brexit future of the United Kingdom. The European Union, the Taxation and the Trade bills will implement the legal framework for exiting the European Union. Trade is one of the key issues the UK is facing – as it leaves the European Union, it will lose the benefits of over 40 trade agreements which account for almost 25% of UK’s exports outside of the EU. This law will ensure the transition out of the European common commercial policy and should minimize the impact of Brexit on UK’s economy. However, the government’s project is inherently flawed and is facing resistance as it passes through the legislative process.
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Oil extraction in Italy and “collateral” damage0
- Environment and Energy, Op-ed
- 21/03/2018
The hydrocarbon sector threatens health and environment in Italy, but fossil fuels continue to be the cornerstone of the national energy policy.
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International Trade by the People, for the People0
- International Trade, Op-ed
- 17/03/2018
Inequality is rising, wages are declining, local businesses are dying, and poverty remains; resources are being exhausted and climate change is destroying ecosystems whilst increasing the magnitude of natural disasters. Meanwhile, international trade deals that exasperate all of these problems continue to be agreed behind closed doors. In the name of profit, power and domination, the world’s rich elite continue to ensure our planet’s resources and wealth remain monopolised in their hands whilst presenting us with a glossy façade of global trade deals as essential for our prosperity. It is against this backdrop that voices have been raised in Malaysia, demanding trade agreements incorporate a radical, pro-people, pro-environment ‘people’s charter’.
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