Trade Briefings

May 30, 2024

Poland in the Single Market: Benefits, Barriers, and Reforms

Poland’s per capita GDP rose significantly after joining the European Union, reaching almost 80 per cent of the EU average by 2022, fuelled by increased trade, investment, and labour market opportunities. However, regulatory barriers, enforcement deficits, and incomplete service market integration continue to pose challenges.
October 21, 2021

Changing Competences

The European Union often concludes international trade agreements, which contain shared competences with the Member States (the so-called mixed competences agreements), thus they require ratification from the national and/or regional parliaments in order to be enforced.
August 24, 2019

Two Cheers for the EU-Mercosur Agreement

The new EU-Mercosur Agreement only superficially rejects protectionism. As much as it liberalises trade, it also protects European defensive interests and extends the EU’s regulatory influence, to the detriment of Mercosur producers and European consumers.
August 21, 2019

Two Cheers for the EU-mercosur Agreement

The new EU-Mercosur Agreement only superficially rejects protectionism. As much as it liberalises trade, it also protects European defensive interests and extends the EU’s regulatory influence, to the detriment of Mercosur producers and European consumers.
November 24, 2018

The Economic Damage Inflicted by Production Taxes

Production taxes in France have long been a contentious issue closely linked to employment and wage growth. France currently sets one of the highest levels of production taxes in the EU, which can be seen as an example of the government’s habitual over-taxation.
November 1, 2017

Accepting the Scientific Consensus: GMOs in the EU

The ECJ ruled that Italy had been wrong to ban the cultivation of an EU-approved genetically modified maize. This was a big victory for the plaintiff, an Italian farmer who was denied the right to grow the MON 810 maize.