The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) entered into force on 1 January 2015, as an organisation for regional economic integration between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. Later that same year Armenia and Kyrgyzstan also joined.

The negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US began in July 2013 with the ambition to conclude the negotiations before the end of President Barack Obama´s term in January 2017. This brief outlines what the parties are trying to achieve, potential sticking points, the interdependence of the EU and US economies and the potential gains of a successful agreement.

Since the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU has had an express competence in humanitarian aid. This development entails numerous legal and institutional challenges, which this timely report analyses, while identifying ways to address them.

Numerous bilateral investment treaties (BITs) were signed between the incumbent Member States and the Central and Eastern European Member States prior to the latter becoming full Union members. While motivated at the time, the compatibility of these BITs with the internal market is in question.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, a relationship that today is one of the world’s most important bilateral partnerships. In this publication, the authors sheds light on this strategic partnership by, among other things, analysing the underlying differences between the two actors in regard to their respective views on sovereignty, power, and foreign policy.

What distinguishes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) from EU’s previous free trade agreements is that its focus is not so much on elimination of tariffs, but rather on reduction of regulatory barriers to trade. The system of regulatory cooperation, which the TTIP entails, is meant to achieve and sustain regulatory convergence between the parties, creating a “living agreement”, flexible to expand to new areas and adjustable to future regulatory developments.

Differences between capital exporting and capital importing countries are decreasing, which may facilitate an agreement on international investment rules. This has been an aim of EU policy for some time.

There have been several attempts to assess the economic impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, both at the EU-wide level and for some of the EU countries. However, these studies do not pay any attention to the potential impact of the TTIP on the EU regions.

The prospect of inclusion of the investment-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), gave rise to heated debate and strong criticism in many EU countries. The initially much polarised either-or discussion has recently gained a more nuanced tone with Trade Commissioner’s Cecilia Malmström’s opening up for a reform of ISDS.

The big regional trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, could significantly affect the world trading system. How and to what extent will these agreements generate gains from trade and reduce transatlantic trade costs? And what will they mean for third parties? This policy brief reviews some of the recent analyses and discusses how the TTIP could usefully draw on the experience in the World Trade Organization, WTO, to enhance transparency, and the scope for third parties to raise issues related to regulatory barriers to trade.