Recent Trends Of Common Commercial Policy Of The European Union

Law and Practice of the Common Commercial Policy provides a comprehensive analysis of the salient features of the European Union’s trade law and policy since the Treaty of Lisbon: legislation, case law, treaty making and institutional practice.

International trade governance has traditionally aspired to the creation of a multilateral global trade system. However, also in reaction to the slow pace of the multilateral agenda, some players have started boosting bilateral/regional approaches to liberalization as alternative avenues for achieving economic gains from improved international trade liberalization. In this context, some features of the recently negotiated European Union's comprehensive bilateral/regional free trade agreements (“FTAs”) deserve a particular analysis. Not only because their content reflects a new approach in European common commercial policy as compared to the past, but also because they raise some issues as regards their impact on European legal order and on the future of multilateral trade system in general. The paper tries to offer an overview of some significant features of the new generation EU-negotiated FTAs, looking at the new competences conferred upon the European Union by the Lisbon Treaty in the common commercial policy domain. It shall provide some insights on the effects of such agreements on European Union legal order, focusing on the possibility to invoke their direct applicability before European and member States courts, and draw some critical considerations on issues of European governance connected to their conclusion.

Présentation de l'éditeur : "Law and Practice of the Common Commercial Policy provides a critical analysis of the European Union (EU)'s trade law and policy since the Treaty of Lisbon. In particular, it analyses the salient changes brought by the Treaty of Lisbon to the Common Commercial Policy (CCP), focussing on the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), EU free trade agreements, investment protection, trade defence, institutional developments and the nexus between the CCP and other EU policies. The volume brings together a group of distinguished authors, including former and current members of the ECJ, practitioners, officials from EU institutions and Member States and leading scholars in the area of EU trade and external relations law."

Cover -- Half Title -- Dedication -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Common Commercial Policy: Development and Operation -- 3 Theoretical Approaches to the Study of European Integration -- 4 Explaining Policy Processes and Policy Outcomes: an Institutionalist Framework for Analysis -- 5 Theorizing ECJ Decisions: the Legitimacy of External Economic Relations -- 6 Amsterdam - Theory and Empirics in IGCs -- 7 Theorizing International Bargains: the Seattle Ministerial Conference -- 8 Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index

This comprehensive and clearly written textbook offers a long-awaited introduction to the trade policy of the European Union, the world's largest trading entity. Gstöhl and De Bièvre provide a comprehensive assessment of the common commercial policy, its relationship with other policies, like development policy, and of the EU's multi-level policy-making and international bargaining in this area. As well as providing a broad overview of the nature and development of the EU's trade policy, the authors analyse how relevant institutions and decision-making processes are organized and how this set-up fosters particular policy outcomes. Gstöhl and De Bièvre show how the thorough and critical study of EU trade policy can be conducted from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, enabling the student to tackle the ever-evolving political, economic, and legal questions that arise. Given the accessible writing, this book is recommended for both undergraduate and Master's students studying the EU and Europe in their Politics, International Relations, Economics or Law degrees, as well as those focusing on international trade policy.

The Handbook on the EU and International Trade presents a multidisciplinary overview of the major perspectives, actors and issues in contemporary EU trade relations. Changes in institutional dynamics, Brexit, the politicisation of trade, competing foreign policy agendas, and adaptation to trade patterns of value chains and the digital and knowledge economy are reshaping the European Union's trade policy. The authors tackle how these challenges frame the aims, processes and effectiveness of trade policy making in the context of the EU's trade relations with developed, developing and emerging states in the global economy.

Since the beginning of the process of European integration the EU Common Commercial Policy (CCP) has been one of the most dynamic political fields. The EU has achieved a leading role among the economic superpowers and is regarded as a single economic area in which the EU speaks also on behalf of its Member States for most aspects of external economic politics. This volume analyzes the implications of the Treaty of Lisbon for the Common Commercial Policy of the EU. The Lisbon Treaty has declared all matters concerning external commercial policy as exclusive competences of the EU. Which consequences does this have for the Member States of the EU? With regard to institutional modifications, the Lisbon Treaty has significantly strengthened the role of the European Parliament and has substantially changed the role of the ‘High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy’ (HR). Further topics of this volume are the new normative framework of the CCP, inter alia the linkage of the CCP to the general objectives for the EU’s external actions and its dependence on secondary legislation, as well as investment policy now being part of the CCP.

This volume offers new perspectives on the evolution of the trade–development nexus in the European Union against dramatic changes in the international context. Without disregarding them, it seeks to go beyond the controversial and extensively researched Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). In particular, it focuses on the reform of the Generalised System of Preferences, the negotiation of various Preferential Trade Agreements, the application of trade sanctions, the allegedly ambitious agendas on decent work, Aid for Trade and aid untying, and the implications of the changing balance of power in global economic relations. Taking diverse approaches and, at times, reaching different conclusions, contributors directly or indirectly address one or more of the three general themes of the book: differentiation, coherence, and norms. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.

Charts the development of the World Trade Organisation, and examines its role as regulator of the international trading system. The management of the trade policies of the 132 member countries so as to ensure compliance with the principles of trade liberalisation lies at the heart of the WTO's mandate. However, under the extended powers granted to the WTO as a result of the Uruguay Round settlement, in both trade liberalisation and dispute settlement, there lies ample ground for conflicts with the European Union's commercial policy. Mary Farrell considers whether the WTO is likely to impose constraints on EU commercial policy and thereby impinge on the sovereignty of the union as a whole, or whether the EU may continue to operate independently and in coexistence with the trade liberalisation agenda of the WTO.

The European Union, the world's foremost trader, is not an easy bargainer to deal with. Its twenty-five member states have relinquished most of their sovereignty in trade to the supranational level, and in international commercial negotiations, such as those conducted under the World Trade Organization, the EU speaks with a "single voice." This single voice has enabled the Brussels-based institution to impact the distributional outcomes of international trade negotiations and shape the global political economy. Trading Voices is the most comprehensive book about the politics of trade policy in the EU and the role of the EU as a central actor in international commercial negotiations. Sophie Meunier explores how this pooling of trade policy-making and external representation affects the EU's bargaining power in international trade talks. Using institutionalist analysis, she argues that its complex institutional procedures and multiple masters have, more than once, forced its trade partners to give in to an EU speaking with a single voice. Through analysis of four transatlantic commercial negotiations over agriculture, public procurement, and civil aviation, Trading Voices explores the politics of international trade bargaining. It also addresses the salient political question of whether efficiency at negotiating comes at the expense of democratic legitimacy. Finally, this book looks at how the EU, with its recent enlargement and proposed constitution, might become an even more formidable rival to the United States in shaping globalization.