The European Commission signed a free trade deal with New Zealand on Thursday (30 June), slashing much of the remaining tariffs between the two trading partners while keeping certain protections for European beef and sheep farmers and including unprecedented sustainability provisions. After having focused on making the EU trade agenda more assertive in the past months and years, this is the first new free trade agreement (FTA) of the von der Leyen Commission. It could also be the first of a couple of FTAs that the Commission is trying to bring over the finishing line in the coming months. “This trade agreement brings ... (full story)