Insights

WORLD: Following an event with European Commission DG Trade representative with businesses, trade unions and EU member states representatives, Global Counsel Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Head of Europe, Tom White and Practice Lead for Trade, Daniel Capparelli, discuss EU-US trade tensions, including Trump’s trade policy and new trade agreement negotiations, challenges…

There are few UK political issues like the NHS – beloved, sacrosanct and elaborately celebrated and protected by politicians of almost any stripe. So it is inevitable that political alarm bells ring at the idea that the UK’s national health service would be ‘on the table’ in a possible UK-US trade agreement – an idea that got some airplay during President Trump’s visit to…

Global Counsel Practice Lead for UK Politics and Policy, Alex Dawson, is joined by Senior Director, Stephen Adams and Practice Lead for Public Services, Tom Smith, to discuss the NHS and its status in any future trade talks with the US in a post-Brexit United Kingdom, following on from President Trump's comments this week on his state visit to the UK and Ireland.

With a list of candidates longer than your leg, the Conservative leadership contest is now in full swing. Unsurprisingly, many of the candidates’ public statements – and the questions they’re being asked by the media – relate to the looming question of Brexit. You might think in this context that talking about the details of government, like taxation and public spending,…

The UK stepped back from the precipice of a no-deal Brexit in April by requesting and receiving an extension of the Article 50 period up to October 31st this year. This has provided short-term relief from the immediate risk of a no-deal for many businesses on the continent and in the UK. But political turmoil over how to handle Brexit has again engulfed the UK in the last…

RUSSIA & CIS: Following a lunch event, Practice Lead for Russia, CIS and CEE, Alexander Smotrov and Nicu Popescu, Director of the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, discuss recent elections in Europe and Ukraine, and their potential impacts on EU-Russia relations.

Although official results of the Indonesian presidential and parliamentary elections have not been released, quick count results suggest that incumbent president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), has secured a second term. The latest projections show that Jokowi won with around 56% of the votes, while his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, received 44%. As Indonesia awaits official results…

UK: Senior Director, Stephen Adams, Practice Lead for UK Politics and Policy, Alex Dawson, and Senior Associate, Joe Armitage, discuss the process of selecting a new leader for the Conservative Party, differences from the leadership race in 2016 and potential front runners.

Viewed from Brussels, April 2019 marks an inflection point in the EU’s strategic approach to China. By all accounts, EU institutions and member states managed to display unprecedented unity in protracted and difficult negotiations with Beijing ahead of the EU-China summit, confounding expectations to secure a set of important Chinese commitments towards a more reciprocal…

The consensus underpinning monetary policy in advanced economies over the past 30 years is weakening, with challenges from both the left and the right, and from within the central banking community. The implications are potentially far-reaching, including for institutional arrangements and the independence of central banks. Some central banks are more vulnerable to…

Germany’s economy minister, Peter Altmaier, has presented a draft “national industrial strategy 2030” that seeks to formulate a response to fiercer international competition. It is the first time that a German government has sought to define a national and European industrial strategy. Altmaier’s proposal is thus an expression of a shifting cross-party consensus, largely…

“No equipment supplier, including Huawei, should, or may, be specifically excluded from 5G roll-out”. These words come from Jochen Homann, the president of the German telecom regulator. This statement was interpreted by many in the media as a concession to Huawei and evidence of Europe’s more measured approach to 5G infrastructure than the US. However, the initiatives…

Global Counsel Senior Director, Stephen Adams and Senior Associate, Jens Presthus, discuss his recent blog about China’s relationships with the EU and individual European states.

Global Counsel Chief Economist, Gregor Irwin, and Head of Europe, Tom White, discuss Gregor's recent blog on why policymakers are coming under increasing pressure to reform competition regimes.

Last week’s EU-China summit and 17+1 meeting underscored something interesting in how China’s relationships with the EU and individual European states are developing. While a group of influential EU states view Beijing as a “systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance”, several EU and non-EU states increasingly see China as a strategic partner.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests corporate market power may be increasing and that this is damaging macroeconomic performance. Moreover, the effects may be strengthening as the market power of some firms becomes more entrenched and capable of exploitation. This, combined with growing political attention in some major economies, means policymakers may come…

The European Commission’s decision to block the merger of Siemens and Alstom has triggered a new phase in the debate on European industrial policy. Wary of conceding its own prerogatives on competition to Paris and Berlin, the commission has proposed a range of alternative tools, including a renewed push for the International Procurement Instrument (IPI). Like last year’s…

The critical CO2 shortage experienced by the UK last summer was caused by a combination of increased demand – with England’s progress at the World Cup and an unprecedented heat wave in part to blame – and outages at key production facilities. But characterisation of the shortage as “a perfect storm” risks ignoring a structural fragility in the UK’s CO2 supply chain that…