On 11-12 October, the Center for Trade Law in Münster, Germany, organised and hosted its 12th Annual Trade Law Conference with the theme ‘Bilateral and regional trade agreements at the centre of the EU’s ‘new’ trade policy’.

Eckart Naumann, a tralac Associate, made a presentation on aspects of EU preferential Rules of Origin, recent policy developments and perspectives from the SADC region. Other presenters included representatives of the European Commission, various German universities, as well as a number of European trade law practitioners.

While the first day dealt with the recent direction of EU trade policy, challenges and at times conflicting objectives of bilateral, regional and multilateral trading systems, as well as legal aspects of new generation issues such as investment and services, the second day was dedicated to the unique challenges and opportunities presented by EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements.