WTO: Germany urges EU to file WTO complaint against U.S. in steel row - by Michael Nienaber

Germany urged the European Union on Friday to consider filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States over its plan to impose duties on imports of steel plate from five EU member states.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders on Friday aimed at identifying abuses causing huge U.S. trade deficits. He is also preparing to meet Chinese President Xi next week in Florida, with contentious trade issues likely to be high on the agenda.

Global steel prices have slumped as Chinese producers, who account for about half of the worldwide steel supply, have flooded the export markets, leading to protests and anti-dumping complaints by the United States, the European Union and others.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a final finding that European and Asian producers dumped certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate in the U.S. market, allowing it to impose duties ranging from 3.62 percent to 148 percent.

Among the affected companies are firms in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France and Italy.
Gabriel said the U.S. government seemed prepared to give U.S. firms an "unfair competitive advantage" over European producers even though this violated international trade law.

"We Europeans cannot accept this. The EU must now examine whether it also files a complaint at the WTO. I strongly support this," Gabriel said. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is in charge of trade matters in the 28-member bloc.

"The WTO rules are the backbone of the international trade order. To deliberately violate them is a dangerous step," he said. "It is the first time that the U.S. in such a case resorts to distorting practices that do not comply with the WTO rules."

In Brussels, a spokesman for the European Commission said it regretted the U.S. move to impose anti-dumping measures, adding that the duties were "artificially inflated".

Gabriel also said Germany had to stand up to the U.S. and fight "accounting tricks" that put Germany's internationally competitive steel industry at a disadvantage.

"If the U.S. got through with unfair competition, other industries would also be subject to the same threat," Gabriel warned.

Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said Germany would, along with the European Commission, continue to campaign for Washington to stick to WTO rules.

"The signals the U.S. is sending in the steel sector really worry us," Zypries said, adding that she would raise the issue when she visits the United States in May.

Read more: Germany urges EU to file WTO complaint against U.S. in steel row | News | KFGO-790

The Netherlands: What to Expect from Right-Green Coalition in Netherlands – by Nick Ottens

The Green party in the Netherlands has agreed to start negotiations to form a government with the center-right
.
Coalition talks could take months. The four prospective ruling parties have many differences to bridge.

The Greens want to raise taxes on pollution; Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s liberals want to build more roads. The Greens want to shrink the income gap; the liberals want to cut high taxes and social insurance costs.

The Christian Democrats and liberal Democrats are close in terms of economic policy but miles apart on cultural issues. The former have called for a mandatory national service; the latter want to legalize certain drugs and expand euthanasia rights.

Nevertheless, there may be enough common ground for an accord.

The national broadcaster NOS compared the election manifestos of the four parties and found that they all favor comprehensive tax reform, including lower income tax rates.

They all want to invest in security. The Greens would prefer to spend more on developmental aid than defense, but, after decades of cuts and in light of (unfortunately) American pressure, higher military spending seems inevitable.

All four parties also want to spend more on elderly care and lower the health insurance deductible.

Read more: Nick Ottens What to Expect from Right-Green Coalition in Netherlands – Atlantic Sentinel

Brexit : Britain between a rock and a hard place: First EU response to article 50 takes tough line on transitional deal - by Daniel Boffey

"Brexit and the Mouse that roare": sorry to see you go Britain

Britain will not be given a free trade deal by the EU in the next two years, and a transition arrangement to cushion the UK’s exit after 2019 can last no longer than three years, a European parliament resolution has vowed, in the first official response by the EU institutions to the triggering of article 50 by Theresa May.

A leaked copy of the resolution, on which the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has been a close conspirator, lays bare the tough path ahead for Britain as the historic process of withdrawing from the trade bloc begins.

Across 11 pages of clauses, May is warned that the EU will stridently protect its political, financial and social interests, and that the position for the UK even during the transition period will not be as positive as it is today.

A withdrawal agreement, covering financial liabilities, citizens’ rights and the border in Ireland, will need to be accepted by a qualified majority of 72% of the EU’s remaining 27 member states, representing 65% of the population. The agreement would then need to be approved by the European parliament, voting by a simple majority.

Barnier has said that any free trade deal, to be struck after the UK leaves, would be a “mixed agreement” requiring ratification by the national parliaments of the 27 states, plus consent by the European parliament.

Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, delivered a letter to the European council president, Donald Tusk, at 12.30pm notifying the EU of Britain’s intention to leave, as May stood up in the House of Commons to make a statement to MPs.

Addressing a press conference half an hour later, Tusk said: “There is no need to pretend that this is a happy day, neither in Brussels or in London. After all most Europeans, including almost half the British voters, wish that we would stay together not drift apart.”

Tusk said that Brexit would bind the remaining 27 member states together, and that the council and the European commission had a strong mandate to protect the EU’s interests. But he added: “As for me I will not pretend I am happy…”

One positive development following Brexit. It brought the other 27 member states  of the EU with a population of close to half a billion people closer together with no one of its present leaders ready to call a referendum or announce they would be leaving the EU 

EU-Digest

US Economy:Renewable Energy Industry Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US

The solar and wind industries are each creating jobs at a rate 12 times faster than that of the rest of the U.S. economy, according to a new report.

The study, published by the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) Climate Corps program, says that solar and wind jobs have grown at rates of about 20% annually in recent years, and sustainability now collectively represents four to four and a half million jobs in the U.S., up from 3.4 million in 2011.

The renewable energy sector has seen rapid growth over recent years, driven largely by significant reductions in manufacturing and installation costs. Building developers and owners have been fueled by state and local building efficiency policies and incentives, the report explains.

But, these gains are in contrast to Trump's support for fossil fuel production, his climate change denial and his belief that renewable energy is a "bad investment".

 "Trump's current approach is basically ignoring an entire industry that has grown up over the last 10 years or so and is quite robust," Liz Delaney, program director at EDF Climate Corps, told Business Insider.

Note EU-Digest President Trump, however, who does not believe in scientifically proven evidence that Carbon Dioxide Emissions caused by fossil fuels and a variety of other factors are the main cause for global warming, has today signed several sweeping executive orders taking aim at a number of his predecessor's climate policies,  Thereby turning back the clock of American advantages in the alternative energy sector for many years. It will also jeopardize America's current role in international efforts to confront climate change.

Renewable Energy Industry:  Creates Jobs 12 Times Faster Than Rest of US | Fortune.com

Health Care USA: The “Dis-location” of U.S. Medicine — The Implications of Medical Outsourcing — by Robert M. Wachter, M.D.

When a patient in Altoona, Pa., needs an emergency brain scan in the middle of the night, a doctor in Bangalore, India, is asked to interpret the results.

Spurred by a shortage of U.S. radiologists and an exploding demand for more sophisticated scans to diagnose scores of ailments, doctors at Altoona Hospital and dozens of other American hospitals are finding that offshore outsourcing works even in medicine. .

Most of the doctors are U.S.-trained and licensed — although there is at least one experiment using radiologists without U.S. training.

Until recently, the need to take a patient's history and perform a physical examination, apply complex techniques or procedures, and share information quickly has made medicine a local affair.

Competition, too, has played out between crosstown medical practices and hospitals. Although there have always been patients who chose to travel for care — making pilgrimages to academic meccas for sophisticated surgery, for example — they were exceptions.

This localization was largely a product of medicine's physicality. To examine the heart, the cardiologist could be no farther from the patient than his or her stethoscope allowed, and data gathering required face-to-face discussions with patients and sifting through paper files.

But as health care becomes digitized, many activities, ranging from diagnostic imaging to the manipulation of laparoscopic instruments, are rendered borderless. The offshore interpretation of radiologic studies is proof that technology and the political climate will now permit the outsourcing of medical care, a trend with profound implications for health care policy and practice.

Skyrocketing health care costs are increasingly seen as unsustainable drains on public coffers, corporate profits, and household savings. Concern about these costs has led to wide-ranging cost-cutting efforts, often accompanied by attempts to improve quality and safety.

In other areas of the economy, a similar search for cost savings and value has created a powerful impetus for outsourcing. Although corporate globalization has been controversial, when the forces of protectionism have butted up against the demand of consumers for decent products atlow prices and the desire of shareholders to maximize returns, outsourcing has usually triumphed.

Although outsourcing is often motivated by the desire for cost reduction, health care's version may offer substantial advantages for patients.

For example, many hospitals now purchase interpretation services from outside companies, whose interpreters often speak a range of languages that individual hospitals cannot match. Outsourcing could also provide patients with access to specialized care that would otherwise be unavailable. A group of mammography experts, for example, could read remotely transmitted mammograms obtained at community hospitals, replacing less specialized radiologists. Herzlinger praised the “focused factory” in the predigital era, using examples (such as the “hernia hospital”) that required the physical presence of patients. 

In a “dis-located” world, patients may benefit from some of the quality advantages of focused factories without the burdensome travel.

Outsourcing is often initially endorsed by local providers, since the off-site professionals begin by doing work the locals are happy to forgo, such as nighttime reading of radiographs. (Most of today's overseas teleradiology is designed to capitalize on time differences — Indian radiologists read films while U.S. radiologists are sleeping.) If the arrangement meets its goals (whether these are saving money, getting a late-night dictation into the chart by morning, or allowing a radiologist a full night's sleep), its scope is bound to grow, as administrators consider other candidates for outsourcing — analysis of pathology specimens or reading of echocardiograms and even colonoscopies. By severing the connection between the “assay” and its interpretation, digitization allows the assay to be performed by a lower-wage technician at the patient's bedside and the more cognitively complex interpretation to be performed by a physician who no longermneeds to be in the building — or the country.

For the completereport go to : The “Dis-location” of U.S. Medicine — The Implications of Medical Outsourcing — NEJM

EU′s Juncker unveils post-Brexit vision for bloc

Presenting five options to the European Parliament on Wednesday, Juncker said it was time for European Union members to once again become "pioneers" to carve out a new future for the EU at 27, referring to the bloc's 27 remaining members after the UK withdraws.

His speech comes just weeks before British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, to begin the country's official divorce proceedings from the EU.

The former Luxembourg prime minister insisted that "as painful as Brexit will be, it will not stop the EU as it moves to the future."

Juncker laid out five "pathways to unity" for EU leaders to consider at a special summit in Rome on March 25 to mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc's founding treaty.

Another option would see Brussels pull back from many areas, including regional development, health, employment and social policy. Alternatively, the bloc could maintain the status quo, Juncker said, with limited progress on strengthening the euro single currency and limited defense cooperation.

The fifth option would involve a more federalist approach, "sharing more power, resources and decision-making across the board."

During his speech, Juncker hit out at "permanent Brussels bashing" by populist politicians all over the bloc, insisting that the EU was not responsible for each country's problems.

But he conceded that Brussels had often been put on a pedestal, and had failed to keep many of its ambitious promises, for example, addressing the bloc's high unemployment rate.

Looking to the future, Juncker said: "Our task will be to say clearly what Europe can and cannot do."

He called for EU states to respond to his suggestions by the end of the year, and decide on a course of action by the European Parliament elections in June 2019.

Read more: EU′s Juncker unveils post-Brexit vision for bloc | News | DW.COM | 01.03.2017

EU: Rome summit tries to restart EU momentum - by Eszter Zalan

The EU 27 leaders recommitted their vows to European integration in Rome on Saturday (25 March) amid warnings that the bloc's unity remains fragile.

The heads of state and government met in the same Renaissance-era palace where the six founding countries signed the Treaty of Rome on 25 March, 1957, to establish the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

Read more: Rome summit tries to restart EU momentum

USA: Trump's obsession with 'all things big' could be dangerous: by Rosemary Westwood

Some questions, you’d think, shouldn’t need to be asked.

For instance, “Is America’s military big enough?”

And yet, the New York Times this week dutifully asked the question, since the president of the United States not only considered it — or perhaps, overheard it on conservative talk radio — and answered yes.

As it is, the U.S.’s $596 billion military budget is greater than the next seven countries combined, more than double China’s and roughly nine times Russia’s. Past presidents have beefed up military spending for actual wars. Donald Trump appears happy to beef up spending for imagined ones, or for posturing, or, perhaps, just to make the military bigger.

Enter his recently released “skinny” budget, which is, you understand, an old Washington term related to a lack of detail, and not, you understand, a reference to its lack of muscle. It’s very robust. Extra tough. Super strong(™).

The New Yorker dubbed it his “Voldemort” budget. Budget director Mick Mulvaney deemed it “compassionate.” And it would, among other things, defund Meals on Wheels, cut support for affordable housing in cities, shrink the Education Department’s budget, throw pretty much every federal arts program out the Air Force One window, and thrust an extra $54 billion towards military spending.

In the same breath, the White House is hoping to “compassionately” relieve 24 million Americans of their health care coverage under its proposed American Health Care Act.

Trump is not, it turns out, simply “doing everything he promised,” because that included making life better for many of his devoted voters, and, at one point, promising a health care plan that would cover every single American.

Instead, with now trademark-inconsistency, he’s coated a dovish American-First rhetoric around the exact opposite: a hyper-militarized vision of the country, complete with walls, and no doubt, if it was en vogue, a giant snaking moat.

Under Trump’s leadership, “Is America’s military big enough?” becomes a rhetorical question of the Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor variety, with the same mindless worship of size.

Trump is nothing if not obsessed with all things big.

He’s lied about the number of floors in Trump buildings, so they appear taller. He exaggerated the size of his electoral win, and then exaggerated his inauguration day crowd. “Big league” is a favourite phrase. His 2008 book was called “Think Big.” The London terror attack was “Big news” and the day before his health care bill faced a vote in the house of congress was a “Big day.”

He even wants to appear, physically, big. Since Trump took office, many have missed not only Barack Obama the man, but also his taste in suits, compared to Trump’s ‘80’s era shoulder pads tailoring reminiscent of a tent.

Perhaps Trump, as man, is so devoid of elegance because he has no concept of proportion (in suits, hairstyles, or otherwise). Slinging around outlandishly vulgar insults, stalking his election opponent Hillary Clinton around the debate stage, responding to critical media coverage by calling it “fake news,” and reportedly suing a San Francisco teenager for creating a website where you can make kittens punch Trump in the face: This is not a man well-acquainted with the concept of degree. And that is very bad news for America.

If Trump gets his way, and there are big cuts to health, education, arts, and programs supporting the elderly, disabled and poor, and a big old boost to military spending, something else is bound to be big: the damage.

Read more: Trump's obsession with 'all things big' could be dangerous: Westwood | Metro News

Is the new World order dead? The Geopolitics Of Chaos - by Javier López

The new world disorder is under way while speculation about what President Trump would do has given way to a spate of executive orders. The cocktail of reactionary withdrawal from previous commitments (Trump + Brexit is imposing a change of guard on international relationships, leaving the northern hemisphere turned upside down.
 
The neoliberal economic and geostrategic consensus has broken down and left in its wake an ocean of uncertainty. The Trump administration has shown itself hostile to European integration and has moved close to Putin. Xi Jinping “saved” the Davos forum and has become the standard-bearer of globalization. A wave of protectionist nativism could lead to trade wars with serious consequences. 2017 is the year with the greatest political risk since the end of World War II (Ian Bremmer).

The USA is starting a new era with shades of isolation and unilateralism. This compromises the Atlantic Alliance, the centre of gravity of the twentieth century. A new “special relationship” with post-Brexit Great Britain is sought while fantasizing over the end of the Euro and calling the EU a “vehicle” for Germany. It looks down on supranational organizations, the safeguards of multilateralism, while at the same time escalating tensions with China that may end in triggering the greatest danger the world now faces.

The USA is starting a new era with shades of isolation and unilateralism. This compromises the Atlantic Alliance, the centre of gravity of the twentieth century. A new “special relationship” with post-Brexit Great Britain is sought while fantasizing over the end of the Euro and calling the EU a “vehicle” for Germany. It looks down on supranational organizations, the safeguards of multilateralism, while at the same time escalating tensions with China that may end in triggering the greatest danger the world now faces.

Internally, its democracy is beginning a new chapter based on Schmitt’s Dezisionismus. A sovereign power that does not respond to legal norms or rational discussion. Without checks and balances, without judges or press. In the field of economics, trade barriers are foreseen. Care must be taken as, what do these targets (Mexico, Germany and China) of the new President all have in common? They are great exporting powers. The hostility of the White House is a reflection of one of its greatest weaknesses: its current account deficit. And also one of the greatest global macroeconomic imbalances. Once again, economy and international relations are intertwined.

Putin’s Russia feels strong and has reason to do so. After a gradual loss of domination over the strategic ‘rimland’ (Spykman), Russia has shown that is prepared to do anything, even cyberattacks, to maintain its position. All of its latest moves in the Caucasus, Ukraine or Syria have led to an increase in its influence. Putin’s authoritarianism has masked its economic problems and it seems that the electoral results in the Western world are a fortune smiling in his favour.

And Putin also now hopes that, with an American administration that is more than favourable, trade sanctions will be eased or even lifted. Trump and Putin speak the same language and their connections are more than evident. But be careful, the USA may be using the Kremlin against the Asian giant, just as Kissinger did in the opposite direction during the Cold War. A new anchor to hold down, in this case, the Chinese ascent. Trump is a dangerous character – folkloric and ridiculous, yet it would be wise not to dismiss everything he does as stupid.

The old continent can see these changing international relations as a party to which it has not been invited. Fragmented, terrified and left without the Atlantic umbrella, suffering the worst hangover after the Great Recession, and all in a year of electoral heart-attack. The biggest risk is that a great Troika made up of Washington, Moscow and Beijing will find a new international balance ignoring Europe.

At the same time, as Europeans, we have the opportunity to occupy an enormous hole in a world looking for reference and left by a retreating USA. We could take on the role of defending Enlightenment values: rule of law, democracy, tolerance and open societies. These continue to be attractive and enlightening values, but even the best ideas need to be defended. That is why the EU must restore its undermined social model, equipping it with a shield in terms of security and defense.

We need to activate a flexible Europe, through enhanced cooperation, to unblock the process of integration and end the paralyzing tug of war between capitals.

It is more vital than ever to look for allies who share our vision of the world: laws, dialogue and multilateralism. Our relations with Latin America and Canada take on a new significance. It would suit us to find a new equilibrium with Russia and strengthen ties with China. We will also need to pay special attention to the candidacy for German Chancellor of the social democrat and pro-European Martin Schulz. His victory would have a huge impact on the hegemonic power of the continent.

Read more: The Geopolitics Of Chaos

US Economy: US adds 400,000 millionaire households in 2016, setting record - by Robert Frank

 The number of millionaire households in America increased by 400,000 in 2016, reaching a record of 10.8 million, according to a new study.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the number of millionaire households has grown every year, adding a total of 4 million millionaire households, according to Spectrem Group, the wealth research firm.

The stats mean that more than one out of every 10 households in America is worth $1 million or more.

Spectrem defines millionaire households as those households with $1 million or more in investable assets, not including a primary residence.

The number of multimillionaire households has also grown. There are now 1.4 million households worth $5 million or more and 156,000 households worth $25 million or more.

 Read m,ore: US adds 400,000 millionaire households, setting record

France: French Election Polls Ahead of First Debate Show Le Pen, Macron Extending Lead- by Jason Le Miere

Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have pulled further in front in opinion polls for next month’s French presidential election ahead of the first televised debate Monday. Macron, a centrist independent, and Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front, have extended their advantage over Republican François Fillon, whose campaign has been dogged by an investigation into alleged fraud.

Macron and Le Pen were tied with 26 percent of the vote, with Fillon falling back to 17 percent, in a poll conducted by Kantar Sofres released Sunday. There was a setback, too, for the candidate for the governing Socialist party, Benoît Hamon, who fell back to 12 percent, level with left-wing former Socialist party member Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Current President François  Hollande announced in December that he will not seek a second term.

French voters will go to the polls for the first round of the election on April 23, with the top two candidates then going onto a second round run-off on May 7.

It would take a major swing in the final month of the campaign for the run-off not to be between Macron and Le Pen. And it would take a similar momentum switch for Macron not to ultimately emerge victorious. Polls have consistently shown Macron beating Le Pen in the second round with around two-thirds of the vote.

Read More: France: French Election Polls Ahead of First Debate Show Le Pen, Macron Extending Lead- by  Jason Le Miere

Insurance Industry: "The masters of deception are becoming vulnerable"

.

"Could the happy days for the 
Insurance Industry be over?

Given a terrible customer service
track record and bloated
infrastructure, the
global insurance industry
stands poised to be disrupted.

Nimble, tech-driven firms are challenging the status quo, using behavioral economics and technologies like IoT and cloud to target inefficiencies in the insurance value chain ranging from customer acquisition to back-office processing.

In the fourth installment of PitchBook’s Fintech Analyst Report series, our emerging-tech analysts dive into the consequent segmentation of insurance, exploring how the industry’s value chain is being disrupted. Key points of discussion include:

• The burgeoning variety of niche products
• How conglomerates—especially in developing markets—are leveraging synergies to appeal to emerging masses of middle-class consumers
• Peer-to-peer insurers returning the industry to its roots

The report also profiles companies in each nascent insurance sector, drawing on the PitchBook Platform to lay out key data points on investment in the space.

.

Given a terrible customer service track record and bloated infrastructure, the global insurance industry stands poised to be disrupted. Nimble, tech-driven firms are challenging the status quo, using behavioral economics and technologies like IoT and cloud to target inefficiencies in the insurance value chain ranging from customer acquisition to back-office processing.

In the fourth installment of PitchBook’s Fintech Analyst Report series, our emerging-tech analysts dive into the consequent segmentation of insurance, exploring how the industry’s value chain is being disrupted. Key points of discussion include:

• The burgeoning variety of niche products
• How conglomerates—especially in developing markets—are leveraging synergies to appeal to emerging masses of middle-class consumers
• Peer-to-peer insurers returning the industry to its roots

The report also profiles companies in each nascent insurance sector, drawing on the PitchBook Platform to lay out key data points on investment in the space.

The analog business processes still prevalent in the insurance sector suggests roots in antiquity. The fundamental function of insurance as the pooling and sharing of risk dates back to the ancient world. Maritime societies from the Greeks, to the medieval Genoese, to British merchants all employed schemes to pool resources in financing risky trading voyages.

The Romans formed funeral societies to pay for and conduct funeral rites for members from shared contributions. Sir Edmund Halley (of comet fame) compiled an early actuarial table of death rates in order to establish a fund for widows and orphans of Scottish clergy.

The industry began to take its modern form in 19th century Britain and America when large corporations emerged to insure against various forms of catastrophe, while government regulations popped up to both encourage the purchase of insurance policies and to prevent insurers from operating unscrupulously. Insurance operates assymetrically, with customers paying relatively small monthly premiums and insurers on the hook for large but irregular payouts. This creates the opportunity for unscrupulous businesses to promise terms that they can’t ultimately uphold. Insurers might be tempted to try and pull off cash-flow underwriting by selling insurance below cost and gambling that they will make up the difference with risky and/or speculative investments. The tactic drives sales in the short term, but becomes unsustainable when claims can no longer be paid out to policyholders and the insured are no longer covered against catastrophe.

Governments in many cases incentivize participation in insurance as well as other retirement benefit and pension schema such as 401ks in the US. Life insurance is used as a form of tax arbitrage in many jurisdictions in order to provide a defined benefit for survivors while making contributions tax deductible. Individuals choose to purchase insurance (or are compelled to by the government) due to natural risk aversion. Consumers pay more than statistically necessary in premiums, hedging against extreme tail risks while ensuring a profit for the insurer after deducting administrative costs. The price of premiums includes the not just the actuarial expected loss, but also the cost of running a business and the cost of capital, i.e. firms need to generate a return for investors.

In the US, private health insurance emerged first during the early 20th century as a way for hospitals to finance emerging pharmaceutical research and improved education by getting groups of people to pay in advance for medical care on a monthly basis through their employer. During the World War II-era economy, wages were fixed so employers began enticing workers with more generous health benefits.

In the high-tax postwar era, contributions became tax-deductible, further incentivizing employee plans. This system created a private system with a high degree of price opacity since patients would rarely see their full bill.

Fast forward to present day, insurance premiums alone make up 7% of US GDP. Sir Halley’s previously mentioned Scottish Widows fund grew into a corporation acquired by Lloyds Group for £7 billion in 1999. While insurance doesn’t always merit inclusion into the buzzy fintech vertical, the stubbornly analog nature of the industry makes it extremely exciting for venture capital investors. Globally, the insurance industry covers all manner of risks from life, disability, healthcare, fire, burglary, collision, and professional and business insurance including cybersecurity and medical torts. Government programs like Medicare and more recently The Affordable Care Act have added a further degree of complexity in the US due to the layering of public and private primary and secondary coverage.

Insurance also covers to a large degree the risks assumed by the financial and shadow banking sector, e.g. AIG’s role in the financial crisis and wealth management products in China. Insurers are incentivized to specialize in niche risks in order to find pockets of mispricing. Insurers typically hedge some of their own exposure via reinsurers which lend capital to rapidly growing direct insurers.

Reinsurers have played a key role in technology transfer to developing markets. Local governments are often wary of foreign entities yet local operators need foreign seed capital and expertise. Thus it makes sense to partner with foreign reinsurers who have the expertise and access to technology as well as the balance sheets to de-risk partner firms. The growth of emerging markets over the last several decades with billions of new middle class consumers around the world have played a prevalent role in insurance sector growth strategies.

While insurance largely remains an extremely analog industry, technology has begun to play a crucial and increasing role, impacting all facets of the insurance business. Improved data, often from connected devices, improves the pricing of risk. Thus, when companies know more about their customers, they are able to partner with insurers or insurance products directly to better serve consumers, building ecosystems around loyalty and trust. This puts pressure on incumbent insurers to improve their customer service both via online user experience, and by increased alignment of consumer interests. This comes both from the incorporation of new tools and data to calculate risk, but also a fundamental shift in business models within the insurance ecosystem.

Historically, the insurance value chain has been linked, with each company offering multiple lines of insurance and managing that business line from customer acquisition and marketing to underwriting and back office as well as other intermediate and related processes. The horizontally and vertically integrated insurance model will begin to be disrupted along both planes. The integration of digital-only players into the insurance ecosystem will only further vertically segment the entire insurance value chain. This segmentation will only align the interests of companies and consumers as players focus on the niche where they hold maximum comparative advantage without depending on cannibalizing other parts of the value chain to extract profits.

The increase in data utilization has facilitated alignment in stakeholder interests from across the insurance value chain such as removing the financial incentive to delay or deny legitimate claims. Companies have increased information on consumers throughout the marketing, sales and customer service processes. Players that leverage this information in novel ways will be able to generate sizable comparative advantage.

The bottom-line for the Insurance industry is that only the strong,who have been able to stay in step with innovation, coupled with an ability to integrate high-tech marketing information kin their sales efforts.

Insurance-Digest 

Pro-Europe -Thousands join pro-Europe rallies across Germany and EU

Thousands of people have joined rallies across Germany and other European countries to show their support for the idea of a united Europe.

The weekly protests began last year as an attempt to counter growing nationalist sentiment on the continent, often expressed in opposition to the European Union.

Protesters in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne and dozens of other locations danced, sang and waved the EU flag — 12 stars on a blue background — during the rallies Sunday.

The protests are organized on social media by a group calling itself Pulse of Europe .

The group says it isn’t tied to any particular political party.

EU=Digest

Netherlands -Turkey: Economics of the standoff between Turkey and the Netherlands - by Altay Atli

 Mark Rutte and Recep Tayip Erdogan in the better days

As the diplomatic squabble between Turkey and the Netherlands continues to fester, concerns are raised about whether — and to what extent — the tensions will harm bilateral relations, particularly in economics where the two countries have robust trade and investment connections.

For Turkey, the Netherlands offers a large and expanding export market. Trade between the two countries has roots in the 17th century when the Ottomans exported wool and cotton (later tobacco as well) to the Netherlands and imported clothes and linen in return. Commerce between the two
countries remained strong into modern times; in 2016 the bilateral trade volume was US$6.6 billion.

The Netherlands is the 10th largest export destination for Turkey, and perhaps more importantly from the Turkish perspective, it is also a fast-growing market. Last year Turkish exports to the Dutch market amounted to $3.6 billion, against $3 billion in imports. And while the annual increase in imports was 3.4%, exports expanded much faster, at 13.8%. For the Turkish economy, which is suffering an acute current-account deficit, the increasing trade surplus with the Dutch is a precious commodity.

On the other side of the equation, Turkey is and has always been a favored destination for Dutch investment. A process that started in 1930 when the Dutch company Philips set up shop in the newly established Republic of Turkey has reached new levels since then, making the Netherlands by far the largest source of foreign direct investment in Turkey today. According to data by the Turkish Central Bank, Dutch investment stock in Turkey was $22 billion in 2016, compared with $11.2 billion in US investments in second place, and $9.8 billion from Austria in third place.

Turkey is home to 2,700 companies funded by Dutch capital. This figure includes those transnational companies registered in the Netherlands for legal and tax-related purposes. This sizeable Dutch involvement in the Turkish economy benefits both sides. For Dutch multinationals such as Unilever, ING Bank, Philips, Perfetti, Royal Dutch Shell and Philip Morris, Turkey is not only a favorable production base but also a lucrative market and a trading and logistics hub for access to the Middle East and North Africa, Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia. More Dutch investment is set to come to Turkey, such as the recent purchase by Vitol Group of the Turkey-based fuel products distribution company Petrolofisi for $1.47 billion. Investment needs a stable political climate, and the diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands doesn’t help.

It is also worth nothing that while the amount of Turkish investment in the Netherlands is considerably smaller, there are several large Turkish firms that have set up subsidiaries enabling access to the larger EU market.

For the past week, Dutch pundits have been commenting that Turkey is more dependent on the Netherlands, so possible sanctions imposed by Ankara would only mean “shooting themselves in the foot.” Turkish authorities have imposed political sanctions over the Dutch government’s refusal to allow Turkish ministers to meet with members of the Turkish diaspora there, including halting high-level political discussions between the two countries and the closing of Turkish airspace to Dutch diplomats. But Ankara has carefully ruled out economic sanctions. Turkey’s economics minister, Nihat Zeybekçi said: “If we take these steps, both sides would be hurt.” Ömer Çelik, minister of EU affairs said the Dutch business community, which is “investing in Turkey, doing commerce and generating employment” is “certainly not a part of this crisis,” and “Dutch investment in Turkey is by no means under risk.”

Economic sanctions between Turkey and the Netherlands don’t seem likely at the moment, but longer-term threats remain. First, even if no sanctions are imposed, the significant loss of confidence caused by recent events will take a toll on bilateral economic relations for some time.
Second, the sizeable Turkish diaspora in the Netherlands, as well as the relatively smaller Dutch community living in Turkey, will face uncertainty, and this will have an economic impact too. An estimated 400,000 Turks live in the Netherlands, according to a diaspora association, and there are 25,000 businesses with Turkish owners, most of them smaller enterprises. Many of these companies are doing business with Turkey, and they are negatively affected by the current dispute between the two governments. So is the much smaller Dutch community in Turkey. But it is equally active in the economy, especially in the tourism sector. Declining tourist numbers will hurt Turkish and Dutch operators alike, and it might take some time to recover to pre-crisis levels of business.

Third, the diplomatic spat is likely to have a negative effect on efforts to revise the Turkish-EU Customs Union. The union, which took effect in 1996, is outdated, failing to catch up with the requirements of today’s global trade. Ankara and Brussels had begun talks to improve the deal, but the current circumstance is likely to overshadow attempts based on economic rationality.

This week Turkish football team Beşiktaş played the Greek side Olympiakos in the European cup. The Turks won 4-1 helped by two goals from Ryan Babel, the Amsterdam-born Dutch striker. Turkey and the Netherlands have links that are closer than many realize, and it will benefit both to keep them intact.

Read more: Economics of the standoff between Turkey and the Netherlands | Asia Times

German-US Relations: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel "make nice" - sort of .....

Trump : considers EU non-existent 

If the cancellation of their previously planned meeting due to severe weather in Washington could be perceived as a fitting symbol for Chancellor Merkel's and President Trump's earlier relationship - frosty, if not icy - then today's weather in the US capital - sunny, but crisp - might have served as a sign that the two are trying to move beyond past grievances.

And their public statements during the highly anticipated press conference only underscored the palpable wish to restart the personal relationship between both leaders, after Trump's vicious comments about Merkel during the election campaign and to restore the traditionally close partnership between both countries, which has been in question ever since Trump took office.

It was, of course, up to Trump try to reset the relationship with Merkel and to reaffirm the commitments to transatlantic ties, and at first glance, he did.

But below the surface, things were not as smooth as it seemed. That is because on some crucial issues, including trade and the EU, Merkel and Trump took a very different tack. But that is not entirely accurate since Trump - in a noteworthy and unusual move for a US president - did not even mention the European Union once in his remarks.

"Trump made no reference whatsoever to the European Union, either in general terms or, more pointedly, on the specific issue of trade relations," said Anderson. "The closest he came to acknowledging the EU was when he stated that the US would respect 'historic institutions,' but then added that there needed to be balance and fairness in the relationship to the US." 

Merkel, meanwhile, "spoke from an entirely different - and actually much more grounded and accurate - perspective, answering in effect that the EU negotiates trade deals with member state input and that the principle of mutual benefit in EU trade deals is well established," said Jeffry Anderson, who directs Georgetown University's Center for German and European Studies.

"So on trade, which had not been discussed at that point in the visit, the two leaders seemed to be speaking past one another, which will not be a reassuring message for Germany or for Europe," Anderson added.

That impression was shared by presidential rhetoric scholar Farnsworth.

"The news conference suggested that these two leaders have little in common, other than a desire to avoid exchanging harsh words in public," he said. "Mainly they talked past each other." 

Having made some boilerplate statements about the importance of German-American ties, but really having spoken past one another on a substantial level may sound like a harsh verdict for a meeting between a German Chancellor and an American president.

But given Merkel and Trump's past and their very different political and personal backgrounds as well as the fact that this was their first ever face-to-face encounter it may have been all that could have been reasonably expected at this point.

Read more: Donald Trump and Angela Merkel make nice - sort of | Americas | DW.COM | 17.03.2017

US Economy: Trump's federal budget to eliminate dozens of government funded Agencies and programs-by Gregory Korte

President Trump's proposed budget takes a cleaver to domestic programs, with many agencies taking percentage spending cuts in the double digits.

But for dozens of smaller agencies and programs, the cut is 100%.

Community development block grants. The Weatherization Assistance Program. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The National Endowment for the Arts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. All would be axed if Congress adopts Trump's budget.

Also proposed for elimination are lesser-known bureaucracies like the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program and the Inter-American Foundation.

Many of those programs have constituencies in states and cities across the country — and their champions in Congress. "The president's beholden to nobody but the people who elected him, and yes, I understand that every lawmaker over there has pet projects," said Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney. "That's the nature of the beast."

Read more: Trump's federal budget would eliminate dozens of agencies and programs

Netherlands says No to Trump and Wilders populism in General election-as Rutte wins again - by Philip Blenkinsop

Mark Rutte

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his VVD party was on course for victory in Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday in a result he declared represented a rejection of "the wrong kind of populism".

"It appears that the VVD will be the biggest party in the Netherlands for the third time in a row," a beaming Rutte told supporters at a post-election party in the Hague.

Rutte, who beat off a challenge from anti-Islam and anti-EU far-right firebrand Geert Wilders, said he had spoken to a number of European leaders already by telephone.

"It is also an evening in which the Netherlands after Brexit, after the American elections said stop to the wrong kind of populism," he said.

Read more: Dutch PM Rutte - Netherlands said no to 'the wrong kind of populism' - World | The Star Online

US Trump Presidency: Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion Under Trump

It is impossible to know for certain what approach President-elect Donald Trump will take to supporting democracy and human rights abroad. So far, he has offered only scattered hints—expressions of instincts and impulses that largely point toward a disinclination to engage in democracy promotion but remain far from being elaborated into concrete policy plans. In addition, Trump’s leadership style and the overall troubled state of U.S. democracy will clearly hurt U.S. efforts to advance democracy’s global fortunes in the years ahead. While all of this points almost uniformly in a negative direction, it is likely that as Trump and his team move to actual policymaking, their actions in this domain will prove less consistently negative than their initial signals might indicate.

Throughout his campaign, Trump emphasized his intention to take a purely transactional approach to other international powers. Underlying this approach is the idea that the United States will define its interests narrowly and thereby focus on U.S. economic interests and core security concerns (above all, counterterrorism). Democracy and human rights in other countries, and other “soft” interests, are to be put aside in the pursuit of a get-tough, America-first foreign policy. According to Trump and his advisers, their counterterrorism strategy will rest on stepped-up military efforts and possibly harsher treatment of suspected terrorists who are detained or imprisoned. They have shown no interest in longer-term political approaches to undercutting the roots of state fragility: for example, Trump declared at a public event in December that “we’re going to stop trying to build new nations in far-off lands” that “you’ve never even heard of.”

In line with his promise of transactionalism, Trump has taken a strikingly friendly approach toward various foreign strongmen. His favorable statements about Russian President Vladimir Putin have attracted the most attention but are only one part of a larger pattern that includes a recent sympathetic statement about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on undocumented immigrants and drug traffickers, a backslapping meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in New York in September, and an effusive postelection telephone call with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He has made it clear that in pursuing warmer relationships with such leaders, he does not intend to raise unpleasant truths about their democratic shortcomings. Of course, the United States has long maintained cozy ties with various nondemocratic governments for the sake of security and economic interests; but Trump has been offering a kind of lavish praise that generally does not characterize such relationships and that extends to strongmen leaders who are not even strategically important to the United States (like Orbán).

Another serious negative signal related to democracy policy is Trump’s deep-seated doubts about the value of core U.S. alliances—both with NATO partners and other crucial longtime allies such as Japan and South Korea. He has exhibited a lack of appreciation of these alliances, which are foundational elements of a broader international order that the United States helped establish and has led for more than a half century—an order rooted in liberal political values. Without anchoring specific democracy policies and programs in a larger strategy to preserve this international order, such efforts will lack real weight.

Of course, U.S. democracy promotion relies not just on actions the United States takes abroad, but the power of the example it sets at home. Various problematic features of U.S. political life in recent years—the institutional gridlock, the ever-rising role of money in politics, and the frequent skirmishing over basic electoral rules and procedures—have already tarnished the United States’ image abroad. But the recent U.S. presidential election process damaged this image much more widely and deeply. Although this damage had many sources, numerous actions that Trump took during the campaign and since the election—from his vows to prosecute his main opponent to his baseless postelection assertions of massive electoral fraud—figure significantly in the dispiriting diminishment of America’s global political brand. Trump went so far as to mock the idea of the United States as a democratic exemplar, declaring in July that “when the world sees how bad the United States is and we start talking about civil liberties, I don’t think we are a very good messenger.”

Moreover, highly visible elements of Trump’s leadership style—from his propensity to engage in personal attacks against journalists and even average citizens in response to minor perceived slights to his unwillingness to seriously address the linkages between his business interests and his political position—set a devastating example to strongmen leaders around the world. In taking such actions, he is drawing from the playbook of these vindictive leaders, who have undercut democracy in a growing number of countries that once enjoyed considerable political space, such as Hungary, the Philippines, and Turkey. Many democratically dubious leaders are observing these actions emanating from the president-elect and undoubtedly saying to their critics: How can you object to my efforts to defend myself? When I reach out to slap those who dare criticize me, I’m only doing what the new president of the world’s greatest democracy does.

In short, the prospects for serious, effective U.S. engagement by Trump to support democracy and human rights abroad look dismal. But in practice, the picture will likely end up being at least somewhat less negative than the initial signals indicates.

Read more: US Trump Presidency: Prospects for U.S. Democracy Promotion Under Trump

Germany: Merkels visit to Washigtonn includes opportunity to "defrock" Recep Tayyip Erdogan -by RM

Angela Merkel

As Mrs Angela Merkel arrives in the US and meets with US President Donald Trump on Friday we can only hope she will able to convince the US President what a charlatan Mr. Erdogan is in reality. 

For in all this Erdogan created drama of conflict between Turkey and individual EU states, however,  the obvious question is: "what is the US position as to these artificially Erdogan created conflicts"

Given the fact that respective US Governments have never had any problem in supporting dictatorial governments around the world, if and when it was tconvenient or to o their benefit. 

Case in point: the relationship with Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Egypt - to mention just a few countries in the Middle East alone. 

Hopefully the US will wake up to the fact that Erdogan's political games - last years coup, his turn around with Russia, locking up of all opposition and press, Syrian involvement and now his spat with the Netherlands, are all focused on one objective - obtaining absolute power in Turkey. 

In the meantime he has also become an unreliable NATO partner as a result of hisflirtatations with Russia. 

Whoever is not aware of this is either extremely shortsighted or totally stupid. 

All of us in the EU are wishing Mrs. Merkel  a very successful  and productive US visit.

Turkey’s Tyrannical Rule, Erdogan’s “Democratic Dictatorship” - by Stephen Lendman

The Boss is a dictator - vote NO

Anyone criticizing or challenging his leadership risks imprisonment, including public figures, journalists, academics, other intellectuals, human rights activists, even young children – on charges ranging from insulting the president to terrorism, espionage or treason.

He purged or imprisoned over 100,000 regime critics – from the judiciary, military, police, media and academia.

His state of emergency imposed after last summer’s coup attempt “target(s) criticism, not terrorism,” according to UN High Commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein.

He uses emergency powers to target dissent, aimed at consolidating unchallenged power.

He’s accused of disappearing opponents, extrajudicial killings, torture, and other flagrant human rights abuses.

Last year, he cited Hitler as a role model, calling his Nazi regime perhaps an ideal way to run Turkey, saying he wants things streamlined for more effective decision-making – code language for wanting iron-fisted rule, all challengers and critics eliminated.

He’s at war with Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iraq, committing atrocities on the phony pretext of combating terrorism he supports – claiming he has a “historical (regional) responsibility.”

A row between Berlin and Ankara erupted after local German authorities cancelled campaign events Turkish ministers arranged to speak at in support of an April referendum on expanding Erdogan’s presidential powers.

About 1.4 million Turkish nationals live in Germany, eligible to vote in the referendum.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had nothing to do with it. Ignoring his own tyrannical rule, Erdogan responded angrily, saying “Germany, you have no relation whatsoever to democracy and you should know that your current actions are no different to those of the Nazi period.”

His spokesman Ibrahim Kalin claimed “(a) huge anti-Turkey, anti-Erdogan attitude is being systematically produced and serviced to the world, especially through Germany.”

Merkel said his accusations “cannot be justified. We will not allow the victims of the Nazis to be trivialized. These comparisons with the Nazis must stop.”

Last month, Die Welt reporter Deniz Yucel, with dual German/Turkish citizenship, was detained in Istanbul, accused of spying for Berlin and representing the outlawed Kurdish PKK group.

Germany called the charges “absurd.” Merkel told parliament her government is working “with all its means” to free him.

A separate row erupted after the Netherlands canceled flight clearance for Turkish Prime Minister Melvut Cavusoglu’s scheduled March 11 visit to Rotterdam to speak at a pro-Erdogan rally.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Ankara wasn’t respecting public gathering rules, explaining:

    “Many Dutch people with a Turkish background are authorized to vote in the referendum over the Turkish constitution. The Dutch government does not have any protest against gatherings in our country to inform them about it.”

    “But these gatherings may not contribute to tensions in our society and everyone who wants to hold a gathering is obliged to follow instructions of those in authority so that public order and safety can be guaranteed.”

Cavusoglu angrily responded, saying “(i)f the Netherlands cancels my flight clearance today, then we will impose severe sanctions,” adding he intends flying to the country later on Saturday.

A Dutch government statement said his “sanctions threat made search for a reasonable solution impossible.”

Erdogan called Dutch authorities “Nazi remnants, fascists,” warning they’ll be impeded from traveling to Turkey.

How this row gets resolved remains to be seen. Dealings with Erdogan are never easy.

Note EU-Digest: Turkey under leadership of Erdogan is an ever increasing disaster: It is time for the EU, the NATO and democratic countries around the world to call a Spade a Spade and wake up to the fact that it is impossible to deal with this Turkish narcissist president. 

He already is a dictator - has no respect for the present Turkish Constitution, election laws (which forbid the Turkish Government and citizens to hold political rallies abroad); locked up more journalists than China; and has enriched himself and his family with money from illegal business deals .Erdogan's so-called referendum on April 16, 2017 is nothing more than a further attempt to amass more power and influence.. YES INDEED, TURKS AROUND THE WORLD NEED TO PROTECT TURKEY FROM DESTRUCTION AND VOTE NO.

Read more: Turkey’s Tyrannical Rule, Erdogan’s “Democratic Dictatorship” | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization

Turkey-The Netherlands -EU: Diplomatic row as Dutch withdraw landing rights for Turkish minister's plane

The Netherlands says NO

The Netherlands has withdrawn landing rights for a plane carrying a Turkish government minister who wanted to address a rally in support of a controversial referendum giving more power to the president.

Foreign affairs minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu was planning to speak at a meeting in support of the referendum in Rotterdam late on Saturday afternoon. The decision to stop the plane carrying Cavusoglu from landing was taken on public order grounds. The call by the Turkish authorities for a mass demonstration is a threat to public order and safety, the Dutch foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

‘The Netherlands was in talks with the Turkish authorities about an acceptable solution to the visit,’ the statement said. Talks were ongoing about whether the meeting could take place in a smaller, closed environment such as a Turkish consulate or the embassy. ‘But before those talks could be completed, the Turkish authorities made a public threat about sanctions.

That made the search for a reasonable solution impossible,’ the statement said. The ministry said that many Dutch Turkish have voting rights in Turkey and that the government has no objection to information meetings. ‘But these meetings cannot contribute to the tensions in our society,’ the statement said.

More powers Cavusoglu hopes to win support for a yes vote in the Turkish referendum on amending the constitution to concentrate more power with president Tayyip Erdogan. Prime minister Mark Rutte has said the visit, planned for just four days before the Dutch general election, is ‘undesirable’.

The timing is inopportune, given that much of the election campaign revolves around maintaining the Dutch identity. It would also be playing into the hands of Geert Wilders, who held a short demonstration for the press in front of the Turkish embassy on Wednesday, Dutch commentators said.

Note EU-Digest: Obviously this move by the Dutch PM will score a lot of points for him in the upcoming Dutch elections in 4 days ,


Read more: Diplomatic row as Dutch withdraw landing rights for Turkish minister's plane - DutchNews.nl

Germany: Merkel set to have her most awkward American experience – with Trump

She told the German Parliament that Europe “must be able to have an independent crisis management in our region” — not in competition, but in addition to NATO.

The “trans-Atlantic partnership based upon our values and interests” is of overriding importance for Europeans — and that “this is the spirit” in which she would lead her talks with Trump in Washington.

Indirectly referring to Trump’s isolationist economic leanings, she said “even if in parts of the world we see protectionist and nationalist approaches on the rise, Europe may never isolate, seal itself off or withdraw.”

Trump has vowed to take a tougher line in forging deals and slapping a border tax of 35 percent on cars that German carmaker BMW plans to build at a new plant in Mexico and export to the United States.

But the Germans are willing to call it a bluff. “Do we really want to try to force German citizens to buy American cars?” says, Jürgen Hardt, the Berlin’s coordinator for transatlantic policies.

“Does the American president want to force Americans to stop buying German cars in the future? Do we want to artificially make German cars more expensive with taxes so that consumers buy more foreign products?”

Asked about the future of transatlantic trade, a senior administration official on Friday said the White House has “not formulated a final position” on whether it will pursue the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) deal with the European Union.

On defense and security policy, Trump has been “heartened” by what he has heard from Berlin about devoting more resources to the annual NATO military budget, according to the senior official.

Germany spends less than 1.2 per cent of its gross domestic product on defense, compared with a NATO target of 2 per cent. Trump wants this to change, and Berlin has pledged to meet the NATO target by the mid-2020s.

Trump intends to talk with Merkel about her government crafting a “concrete plan,” the senior official said.

Read more: Merkel set to have her most awkward American experience – with Trump | Euronews

EU-China Relations: How Trump May Drive EU and China Closer on Trade: QuickTake Q&A - by Dara Doyle

The European Union and China may be moving toward closer trading ties as President Donald Trump introduces an element of uncertainty into the U.S.’s trading relationship with the rest of the world. Some EU leaders have been encouraged by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push back against Trump’s protectionist rhetoric. Though China still goes to great lengths to protect its domestic industries -- just one of the issues that divides the two sides -- some believe the time is right to seal an EU-China accord. It would be a milestone for two of the most powerful players in world trade.

The European Union and China may be moving toward closer trading ties as President Donald Trump introduces an element of uncertainty into the U.S.’s trading relationship with the rest of the world. Some EU leaders have been encouraged by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push back against Trump’s protectionist rhetoric. Though China still goes to great lengths to protect its domestic industries -- just one of the issues that divides the two sides -- some believe the time is right to seal an EU-China accord. It would be a milestone for two of the most powerful players in world trade.

1. How is Trump pushing the EU and China closer?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken about her concern with the rise of protectionism, while Chinese President Xi has likened protectionism to “locking oneself in a dark room.” Jyrki Katainen, a vice president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has predicted the relationship between Europe and China will deepen. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership and is likely to end talks on a similar open-trade deal with the EU. That all leaves the EU and China freer to maneuver.

2. What could result from closer ties?

China and the EU are working on an agreement to liberalize investment and eliminate restrictions on investors in each other’s market. Katainen said Europe wants to speed up those talks. Currently, the EU accounts for about 16 percent of investment flows into China.

3. How much trading goes on now?

A lot. China is the EU’s second-biggest trading partner after the U.S.; the EU is China’s biggest trading partner. More than 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) of goods and services move between China and the EU daily. That amounts to more than 500 billion euros a year. In all, China accounts for about 20 percent of EU goods imports and 10 percent of its exports.

4. Who has the edge on trade?

In 2015, the EU ran a trade deficit in goods of 180 billion euros with China. In services, the EU had a surplus of 10.9 billion euros.

5. Is the EU OK with that trade imbalance?

Not at all, which has made the EU’s relationship with China rocky. The trade deficit is at least partly due to barriers China has thrown up. In a laundry list laid out by EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, these include non-tariff measures that discriminate against foreign companies, Chinese government support for state-owned competitors and poor protection of intellectual-property rights. Malmstrom says China’s Jinping needs to follow his words with action on free trade and globalization.

6. What does Europe want?

In a word, reciprocity. European companies want the same level of access to China that the EU gives to Chinese firms. The Chinese have made high-profile purchases in Europe, including German airports, the Port of Piraeus in Greece and Italy’s Pirelli & C. SpA. By contrast, European investors face barriers, including equity caps, forced technology transfers and licensing restrictions, Malmstrom said. European steelmakers must also compete with Chinese firms that benefit from huge subsidies, she said, adding that Chinese firms are treated impartially by European regulators but that isn’t always the case for European companies in China.

7. How has the EU reacted to these barriers?

In the last three months of 2016 alone, the EU expanded tariffs on steel pipe from China, imposed anti-dumping duties as high as 74 percent on two other types of Chinese steel and laid out plans to extend tariffs on imported Chinese solar modules for another two years. In all, China faces more European anti-dumping duties than any other country.

8. What does China say about all this?

It complains it’s being treated like a non-market economy -- meaning, the EU uses other nations’ trade and manufacturing figures to calculate anti-dumping levies against China. The EU says it does this because China’s subsidies distort the market by artificially lowering domestic prices, making them an unreliable indicator of a good’s “normal value.”

9. Is that allowed?

 It’s up for debate. Under World Trade Organization rules, countries may consider a product to be dumped when it’s sold abroad at less than normal value. For the past 15 years, the WTO has allowed the EU to use “analogue” figures -- prices and costs from other countries -- when it calculates whether China is dumping products into Europe. This has made it easier for the EU to levy duties on Chinese imports. China filed a WTO complaint that, if successful, could prod the EU into relying on Chinese-provided costs and prices. That could reduce the EU’s ability to protect its domestic industries. The EU is proposing to scrap its analogue methods to meet Chinese demands while pledging other tweaks that it says would ensure European anti-dumping duties continue to protect against state intervention in China.

10. What happens next?

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has accepted Merkel’s invitation to visit Germany for talks on economic and trade issues. No date has been set.

Read more: How Trump May Drive EU and China Closer on Trade: QuickTake Q&A - Bloomberg