Suchergebnisse

Since the argumentative turn in EU studies, research has shown that civil society activists can challenge frames promoted by EU institutions and incumbent groups, and influence public opinion in the EU. However, most studies of civil society mobilisation on EU issues have focused on the vertical framing of issues from Brussels to national capitals, rarely analysing mobilisation beyond Brussels. This article builds upon ongoing research on Spanish civil society activism on the TTIP (Bouza & Oleart, 2018) and framing EU issues on Twitter (Bouza & Tuñón, 2018), contributing to the study of the role of national activists in the horizontal translation of EU-wide mobilisation to national publics. We argue that national actors play an influential role in the discursive struggle to define 'Europe' and the EU in the (national) public spheres (Díez Medrano, 2003). Building on our previous analysis of national activism on TTIP in Spain, we analyse whether activists have engaged in a process of frame bridging (Snow et al., 1986), in order to expand the mobilisation against TTIP towards new issues and constituencies relating to the broader trade strategy of the EU. The present research addresses the role of the Spanish anti- TTIP social movement in the emergence, circulation and bridging of critical frames on the TTIP negotiations in the Spanish Twitter sphere. The article combines quantitative and qualitative methods –network analysis and framing analysis– in order to analyse the role of the @NoAlTTIP network in the building and diffusion of frames challenging the EU institutions discourse on trade in the Spanish context.

Abstract. The aim of the study is to analyze the EU trade policy in the age of the World Trade Organization (WTO) crisis. In addition to the WTO membership and a number of international agreements within this organisation, the EU is a party to many bilateral trade agreements and negotiating further. It is the side effect of the protracted negotiations in the WTO under the Doha Development Round. The paper discusses the process of proliferation of bilateral trade agreements in the world economy and its importance for the EU. The article is divided into three parts. Part One identifies the determinants of the WTO crisis. Part Two discusses the process of proliferation of bilateral trade agreements in the world economy. Part Three analyzes the EU trade policy and the system of the EU preferential trade agreements. It also examines trade relations of the EU with the Republic of Korea, India, and the United States of America as an illustration of the new EU trade strategy.Key words: bilateralism, European Union, common commercial policy, World Trade Organisation

by Taro Nishikawa This article is based on research presented at the UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference 2021 (17-18 June, online)   After the European Community (EC) launched the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) in 1970, the question of who influences EC/EU positions in international trade negotiations became an important scholarly research topic. On the one hand, greater control […]
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Studies of EU trade policy-making often suggest that delegation of trade authority from the national to the European level strengthened the autonomy of public actors in formulating trade policies. Little empirical research, however, has been undertaken to corroborate this contention. To improve on this situation, I carry out two case studies of the EU's participation in the multilateral trade negotiations known as the Kennedy Round (1964–67) and the Doha Development Agenda (2001 onwards). The analysis reveals that in both cases the EU's negotiating position was largely in line with the demands voiced by economic interests. Although this finding is no proof of economic interests actually determining EU trade policies, it casts some doubt on the autonomy thesis. I also discuss some factors that indicate that interest group influence may be the most plausible explanation for the finding.

AbstractThis article presents an analysis of the Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F Strategy) on animal welfare matters though the lens of EU trade policy and public participation. It shows that the mix of cooperation tools contained in bilateral agreements with trade components support in aggregate the Strategy's actions on animal welfare. However, individual bilateral agreements may need to be renegotiated and modernised to include more powerful cooperation tools to achieve sustainable food systems through the adoption and implementation of animal welfare standards. One way of achieving this is to negotiate the inclusion of sustainable food systems chapters that highlight the linkages between animal welfare, agriculture, sustainability, climate, environment, and public health. However, such robust chapters should be monitored and enforced in a correspondingly robust manner, for example, by restructuring chapters' committees and work groups. The article concludes that enhanced public participation, both at the level of legislative proposals (public consultations) and at the level of trade policy (domestic advisory groups, standardisation committees), may better support achieving policy objectves of animal welfare measures of the F2F Strategy.

Despite the persistent influence of business, non-profit interest groups promoting development for the world's poorest countries, environmental protection, public health and other issues are actively seeking to influence the European trade agenda. Presenting interview evidence from doctoral research on lobbying and trade policy in the European Union and United States, this article argues that within new forms of EU consultation, insider business associations and NGOs adopt similar lobbying strategies, but that this has done little to bridge the divide between their fundamental beliefs. Adapted from the source document.

Despite the persistent influence of business, non-profit interest groups promoting development for the world's poorest countries, environmental protection, public health and other issues are actively seeking to influence the European trade agenda. Presenting interview evidence from doctoral research on lobbying and trade policy in the European Union and United States, this article argues that within new forms of EU consultation, insider business associations and NGOs adopt similar lobbying strategies, but that this has done little to bridge the divide between their fundamental beliefs.