Europe’s trading relations with the rest of the world are facing turbulence as a host of nations including the US, Australia and Brazil have protested the EU’s introduction of new rules limiting the consumption of goods whose supply chains have fostered deforestation.
Intra-European services trade is also high up the news agenda, as the EU suggests it could seek an agreement on cheaper UK university courses for its students, while Spain sees large-scale protests against tourism.
Deforestation dissent
The EU has been accused of making “incorrect use of deforestation data” by Australia and Brazil, as the bloc continues a push to penalise exporters to Europe who clear forested areas, the FT reports.
The Australian embassy in Brussels argues that the EU’s map of deforested areas differs from that of Australia, with a 2023 Forests of Australia map produced by Canberra using a different definition of deforestation to that of the EU Observatory.
“The EU’s map is not a single source of truth but acts as one possible source of information for EU operators and competent authorities to determine if deforestation has occurred,” the embassy said.
The new rules on deforestation-linked imports were approved by the EU in 2022, but are not due to enter force until December 31 this year.
With the regulation also set to apply to domestic EU producers, there has been significant internal opposition to its implementation – over 20 agriculture ministries within the bloc have voiced their opposition.
Austria, backed by both Finland and Greece, has urged Brussels to “firmly reconsider the timeframe for the application of the deforestation regulation”.
The Daily Update reported last month that the US had made a similar call in a letter dated 30 May, when it urged “the European Commission to delay the implementation of this regulation and subsequent enforcement of penalties” until what it called “substantial challenges” have been resolved in the legislation’s implementation.
UK-EU unity?
The UK could be required to provide access to its fishing waters in order to achieve a new trade deal with the EU, according to the Telegraph.
Speaking at the recent European Political Community (EPC) meeting in the UK, where new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer addressed EU officials in an effort to renew ties, one anonymous EU source told the Telegraph that “we still don’t know what [the UK] want”.
French president Emmanuel Macron has identified the UK-EU fisheries agreement as a particular priority for his country. It expires at the end of 2026.
There is also a reported desire by the EU to see an easing of restrictions on mobility for young EU workers looking to work or study in the UK.
Educational services could also be on the agenda as the bloc seeks to secure an agreement that means EU citizens would avoid paying increased international student fees at UK universities.
Tourism tumult
A wave of protests in Spain could hit the country’s largest service export, as residents of the country’s visitor hotspots mount calls to limit tourism.
France 24 reports today (22 July) that over 20,000 activists have taken to the streets of Palma de Mallorca in Spain to complain of rising housing costs as a result of a persistently high influx of tourists. Similar protests have taken place recently in Barcelona and the Canary Islands.
Under a slogan translated as "Let's change course and set limits on tourism", the protestors have called for limits on the number of visitors to the Balearic Islands group to which Majorca belongs. Last year, the islands were visited by 17.8 million people.
Spain as a whole registered 100 million international visitors in 2022. The most recent statistics on the industry’s contribution to the Spanish economy date from 2019, when tourism contributed €70bn, according to Statista.
Poland proposals
Poland will seek to revise the details of the EU’s trade arrangements with Ukraine when it takes over the bloc’s rotating presidency in the first half of 2025, according to Ukrinform.
Polish agriculture minister Czeslaw Siekierski spoke on the relationship at a recent meeting with farmers, where he also said he would like to see “further revision of the Green Deal”.
The words follow major protests from Polish farmers angry at the lack of duties on Ukrainian grain entering the bloc, which they argued undercut its domestic producers. A wave of protest by farmers against the provisions of the Green Deal has also swept the EU this year.
Siekierski said Poland is "doomed to cooperation, rivalry and competition" with Ukraine, but that this was positive.
He added that, when it assumes the presidency, Poland “will take measures to guarantee a certain security of agricultural processing activities based on Ukrainian and Polish raw materials and then export them outside the EU”.