Currently the negotiations are not balanced. It will only be possible to make progress if the American negotiators are amenable to greater reciprocity. Where the service industry is concerned, the EU has put forward ambitious goals in connection with an opening up of the markets, but its proposals have not been greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm in the United States. We are still a long way away from a balanced agreement on the opening up of public markets. If the current asymmetrical situation lasts, France will not rule out the option of calling for a stop to the negotiations.

East Asia and Pacific: Growth in the region is projected to continue to slow to 6.3 percent in 2016 from a slightly less-than-expected 6.4 percent in 2015. Growth in China is forecast to ease further to 6.7 percent in 2016 from 6.9 percent in 2015.  Growth in the region excluding China was 4.6 percent in 2015, broadly unchanged from 2014, as weaker growth in commodity exporters, including Indonesia and Malaysia, was offset by growth acceleration in Vietnam and moderate recovery in Thailand.

Under its Work Programme for 2016, the European Commission states under ‘A Union for Democratic Change’ priority that it will bring forward a proposal for an Inter-institutional Agreement (IIA) on a mandatory transparency register for interest representatives seeking to influence policy making in the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. The context of this political initiative follows on directly from the existing IIA signed between the European Parliament and the European Commission.

After eight years under a business-friendly and pro-EU government, the Poles, exhausted with the existing establishment, voted for a nationalist administration in a general election in October 2015. Some also believed the benefits of EU integration and economic liberalization were not equally distributed among the population.

Citizens in Europe are increasingly weary about the current execution of EU policies. They are largely dissatisfied with many of its current policies, and are keeping a close eye on what is being done. Also, they are much more informed about Europe. Finally, people seem to care deeply about who governs them. While support for the Union is high, policy support is not. Hence, a more attentive citizenry makes it even more important for the EU to perform not only in terms of outcomes, but also in terms of procedures.

This year's the EC Work Programme will deliver 23 key initiatives across 10 political priorities, 20 intended withdrawals or modifications of pending proposals and 40 REFIT actions to review the quality of existing EU legislation.

The Work Programme will deliver substantive legislative proposals to follow up on the strategic programmes adopted in 2015.

Written by Carl Bildt, Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister from 2006 to October 2014 and Prime Minister from 1991 to 1994, when he negotiated Sweden’s EU accession.

As the European Union prepares to enter the new year, it faces an almost perfect storm of political challenges. The strategy it has used in the past – barely muddling through a series of calamities – may no longer be enough.

The debate so far in Europe about the refugee crisis is characterised by a failure of leadership; by a failure to act together; by a failure to properly engage with the scale of the crisis. The refugee crisis is now the biggest challenge facing the EU. The failure of Europe to find agreement and to act decisively on the issue has the potential to dismantle the EU from within.

The Netherlands Presidency work programme focuses on four key areas: 

1. Migration and international Security, 
2. Sound finances and a robust eurozone, 
3. Europe as an innovator and job creator and 
4. Forward-looking climate and energy policy.

The presidency wants an EU that focuses on what matters to Europe's citizens and businesses, an EU that creates growth and jobs through innovation and connects with civil society. The presidency will promote action at EU level only if it is more effective than policies at national level.

Published by Stratfor

2016 is shaping up to be an unsettling year for much of the world. The United States and Russia are still locked in an intractable standoff. Nationalism is resurfacing in Europe. The price of oil and other commodities are low. Chinese consumption is falling. And countries around the world are more resolved than ever before to intensify their military campaigns against the Islamic State. But it is important to remember that all these trends are connected, and the way they play out this year could determine how tumultuous the world will be in 2016.