Europe to overhaul trade policy
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The EU could seek free trade agreements with leading Asian economies as part of a radically revised trade policy.
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The European Commission on Friday suggested ways of revamping the EUâs Stability and Growth Pact and said change was vital to restoring the credibility of its much-flouted budget discipline rules.
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Judges to rule on a case that could change the way alcohol and tobacco is bought within the European Union.
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Differences over trade, energy, human rights and international policy look set to mark the EU-Russia summit.
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Despite some progress, trade between the 25 European Union nations needs to become easier and simpler to jump-start the EU's flagging economy, the EU's internal market chief said Thursday.
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Following todayâs seven-hour talks on the elimination of textiles quotas, the World Trade Organization Council on Trade in Goods will reportedly reconvene later this month for formal talks on the impact of quota elimination on Jan.
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The European Union and its allies got the go-ahead on Tuesday to slap potentially heavy sanctions on U.S. goods in a row that could stir trade tensions ahead of the U.S. elections.
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European leaders will seek to reassure  sceptical voters at a summit starting on Thursday by toughening  policy on enlargement of the European Union, without though  slamming the door on a queue of aspiring nations.
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The European Commission on Friday suggested ways of revamping the EU&#39;s Stability and Growth Pact and said the proposed changes would restore the credibility of its much-flouted budget discipline rules.
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European Union leaders pressed other  trading powers on Friday to move to wrap up more than five  years of global trade talks, making clear the EU would also  pursue the option of bilateral deals with Asian partners.
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The European Union's top trade official said Monday he would move to lift millions of euros (dollars) in punitive tariffs on U.S. goods following the repeal in Washington of corporate tax breaks that were ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.
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The European Union (EU) said on Thursday that further US efforts to eliminate trade and investment barriers would strengthen the transatlantic economic relationship.
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BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (IPS) - A joint assembly of members of the European  Parliament and representatives from some of the poorest countries  has been invited to consider six âmythsâ about new trade  agreements.
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The European Union has adopted, by the narrowest of majorities, new anti-dumping measures to tackle imports of leather shoes from China and Vietnam, a diplomatic source said.
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The European Union has decided that it will lift, at least temporarily, the sanctions it has imposed on US goods, now that Congress enacted sweeping changes in corporate tax law earlier this month, an EU official said yesterday.
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BRUSSELS The European Commission proposed on Wednesday to water down the rules that govern maximum working hours for employees, bowing to pressure from business and from Eastern European members of the EU seeking to catch up with their richer western
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(InfoWorld) - In a surprise move, the European Commission said Wednesday it is shelving plans to overhaul Europeâs rules on copyright fees, after intense lobbying from France and from groups representing artists and authors. The Commission, the executive body of the European Union, was planning to replace the patchwork of national rules with a Europe-wide code designed to better suit the digital age. Presently most countries impose copyright levies on a wide range of products, from photocopiers to mobile phones, and including recordable formats such as CD-Rs, blank cassettes and even paper. The size of levies varies widely from country to country. Only the U.K., Ireland, and Luxembourg do not impose any such levies. Copyright levies are supposed to compensate artists and authors who donât receive any payment when their copyrighted music, documents, or pictures are duplicated by consumers. The Commission wanted to harmonize the rules and scrap levies on most hardware. Its aim was to reduce the fees, which in some cases increase the price of goods dramatically. For example, in Spain consumers have to pay almost â¬300 ($398) in levies when they buy an 80GB MP3 player; in Austria the equivalent charge is just â¬8, according to the Copyright Levies Reform Alliance (CLRA), a coalition of businesses dedicated to harmonizing and lowering copyright fees in Europe. The Commission said it was abandoning the rule change for now. It had planned to publish a proposal before the end of this year. âMore reflection is needed on this complex issue,â spokeswoman Pia AhrenKilde Hansen told journalists. She wouldnât give a new timetable for the legal proposal. She acknowledged that the French prime minister Dominique de Villepin had written to the Commission earlier this month, urging it to drop the plan but she insisted that the Commission will decide for itself when the proposal will be launched. The Commission has been planning to harmonize copyright levies across the E.U. since 2000. Since then the case for scrapping most levies has grown stronger. Digital rights management software, which allows copyright owners to track the copying of their works, has become commonplace. The Commissionâs climb down sparked an angry reaction from the companies and industry groups pushing for a change to the system. âEuropean industry is deeply disturbed by the European Commissionâs apparent about-face on the planned reform of copyright levies,â said Mark McGann, spokesman for the CLRA in a statement issued Wednesday. âWith this decision, it is clear to industry that the Commission has abandoned any serious efforts to establish transparency, efficiency and fairness in the way these levies are set, collected and distributed,â he added, warning that without the revamp of copyright levies, several large European companies now intend to file official complaints with the Commission that will likely result in a wave of infringement procedures against certain member states. âThe reform of copyright levies would then move from the European executive to the European Court of Justice,â CLRA said in its statement.