EU countries agree to reinforce trade defence

EU states agreed to reinforce the bloc’s trade defence instruments on Tuesday (13 December) in a move hailed as a “major breakthrough”.

Reforming trade defence instruments has become a key priority for the EU recently, as steel overcapacity from China squeezes European businesses and as trade policy has become a key concern for voters feeling left out of the benefits of globalisation.

The European Commission proposed modernising trade defence instruments in 2013, but the file wa...