Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your warm welcome and happy new year! I am very pleased to be here with you this morning. This is the first of what I expect will be many visits to Washington as European Trade Commissioner. Of course as an Irishman I feel very much at home in America so this is certainly one of the perks of the job. I had a very busy day yesterday and Tuesday, meeting members of the Administration, senators...

During the first plenary session of 2020, Parliament called for more ambitious measures to tackle climate change and to put citizens at the centre of an initiative to reform the EU. Parliament supported the European Commission's plan for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050 on Wednesday and called for a higher 2030 emissions reduction target of 55%. The previous day, they discussed a proposal on how to finance this green transition, including support for regions affected by it. Citizens have to be...

MEPs support the European Green Deal, but highlight challenges, including ensuring a just and inclusive transition and the need for high interim targets. Parliament adopted on Wednesday its position on the European Green Deal, unveiled by Commission President von der Leyen in a plenary debate in December. MEPs welcome the European Green Deal and support an ambitious sustainable investment plan to help close the investment gap. They also call for an adequately funded just transition mechanism. Speed up reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions Parliament...

EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan is in Washington, DC (January 13-16) for meetings with the U.S. Administration, Congress, the IMF, and business leaders. This will include meetings with the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, the Secretary of Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, and Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross. This is the first trip that Commissioner Hogan is taking outside the European Union in his capacity of Commissioner in charge of trade.  On Tuesday 14, Commissioner Hogan participated in a Trilateral Meeting with Hiroshi...

In a Joint Statement issued today, representatives of the European Union, the United States and Japan announced their agreement to strengthen existing rules on industrial subsidies and condemned forced technology transfers practices. In a meeting held in Washington, D.C., the EU, the U.S. and Japan agreed that the current list of subsidies prohibited under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules is insufficient to tackle market and trade distorting subsidisation existing in certain jurisdictions. They concluded therefore that new types of unconditionally prohibited...

ESMA has today published the responses received to its consultation on MiFID II review report on position limits and position management. To read the responses, click here. Compliments of the European Commission

The European Commission unveiled a proposal that will allow the European Union to protect its trade interests despite the paralysis of the multilateral dispute settlement system in the World Trade Organization (WTO). To further increase the focus on compliance and enforcement of the EU's trade agreements, the Commission created the position of Chief Trade Enforcement Officer. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “A stronger Europe in the world implies efficient EU leadership on global trade and...

The European Commission published today the latest report on protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in third countries. While developments have taken place since the publication of the previous report, concerns persist and a number of areas for improvement and action remain to be addressed. Intellectual property rights infringements worldwide cost European firms billions of euros in lost revenue and put thousands of jobs at risk. Today's report identifies three groups of countries on which the EU will focus...