Past Events

The European economy has changed profile in the last decades. Globalisation has enabled firms in Europe – and all across the world – to enhance its production structure by breaking up the supply chain. Trade and sourced production are integral parts of the entire chain of production. We are trading in tasks rather than in finished goods.

Globalisation has put pressure on European governments to reform their economies. Yet change has been slow. Unemployment has been at unsustainable levels for decades. Sweden and France have recently changed governments and signalled a new direction for policy.

The summer has arrived to Brussels – and ECIPE has just celebrated its first six months of existence. It would be a great pleasure for us to have you and other friends – old, new and future friends – at our Summer Reception to celebrate the arrival of summer (and of us...).

In a new Jan Tumlir Policy Essay Peter Draper, a Senior Fellow of ECIPE and a Research Fellow of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), unfolds the current EPA negotiation process with clarity and subtlety.

In a new book Dr. Marion Panizzon of the World Trade Institute in Bern analyses the case law of WTO dispute settlement practice to get a closer picture of the concepts of "good faith" in WTO jurisprudence.

In early June Germany hosts the annual G-8 summit. This summit meeting is an occasion for Germany to demonstrate the profile of its foreign economic policy. Germany is an inexperienced leader of multilateral economic policy, but has now stepped out of the post-Cold War context of entrenched regionalism.

The Australian experience of Free Trade Agreements increasingly is relevant for Europe as the EU now has launched new FTA negotiations with several countries in Asia. Australia has been active on the FTA front in the Asian region. It has signed FTAs with Singapore and Thailand, and is currently negotiating with countries such as China and Japan.