Suchergebnisse

Abstract: "This paper analyses Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations in order to assess how the move towards tighter economic integration within the EU-US strategic partnership impacts on legislative-executive relations in EU trade policy. The analysis examines the institutional, substantive and party political dimensions of national parliaments' scrutiny of the Common Commercial Policy. Based on insights into both domestic and EU channels of parliamentary monitoring of TTIP negotiations, the paper argues that, although the government remains the central object of democratic control, the involvement of national parliaments in transatlantic trade extends to encompass the EU's own transatlantic and trade policies. This is rooted in the legislatures' legal capacity to constrain the executive in the negotiation, conclusion and, where applicable, ratification phases of EU trade agreements. It is argued that national parliamentary influence takes the shape of politicisation of the legitimacy of the expected policy outcomes of these agreements." (Seite 202)

Non-trade issues are gaining increasing importance in the EU's trade policy. The case of agricultural multifunctionality is an example of the EU trade policy's approach in dealing strategically and structurally with non-trade issues in international trade. In the context of the Doha Round, the concept has been of minor direct importance despite its prominent rhetorical promotion at the beginning of the negotiations. Indirectly, the concept has had a more significant impact on the negotiations as it allows the EU to maintain an overall high level of agricultural subventions due to its compliance with WTO rules of non-trade-distorting support. This indirect impact, however, weakens the EU's negotiating position as it focuses the discussion on traditional agricultural support and puts the EU in a defensive position instead of allowing an offensive promotion of its concept of agricultural multifunctionality. It can furthermore be argued that the strategic use of multifunctionality in the Doha Round does not generally support the EU's negotiation objectives due to divided competitive advantages on multifunctionality among WTO Members. One of the EU trade policy's strategies in facing this situation can be found in a shift of agricultural non-trade concerns beyond the WTO framework towards a level of legally non-binding, private-market regulation. This shift can also be seen in the structural impact of agricultural multifunctionality on EU trade policy, illustrated by the semi-formal Civil Society Dialogue of DG Trade and the European Commission's Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Adapted from the source document.

"Is the EU a force of convergence in the world? Standardizing the World offers a comprehensive assessment of the EU's efforts to standardize a wide array of economic, political, and social aspects of life through its trade agreements across the globe. A group of leading experts offers analyses of the most important issue areas: social and labor rights, the environment, investments, intellectual property, rule of law and anti-corruption, agriculture and food quality, services, public procurement, sustainable development, digital commerce, and more. Trading initiatives with major partners are considered: Mercosur, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Canada, India and Eastern European countries. Those with smaller trading partners are also considered, including Vietnam and Central American countries. The volume reports four key findings. First, EU agreements contain significant standardizing content that often includes but extends beyond preexisting international standards as set by the WTO and other entities. Second, the standardizing principles are specific and granular, yet overall tend toward a measured and socially-minded approach to trade and capitalism. Third, while the EU is quite successful at advancing its worldviews, in several cases - both across policy areas and when it comes to specific partners - the results speak to compromises or even failures to reach agreement. Fourth, even in cases where the EU shows considerable success, the resulting outcomes do not always amount to a consistent pattern. Taken together, the findings paint a picture of a dynamic EU capable of projecting its worldviews across the globe that is nonetheless not always consistent or successful. Multiple explanations, from institutionalist to political economy and identity-driven ones, help explain the observable patterns. The volume closes with reflections on the broader impacts of EU trade policy beyond its formal trade agreements, the global competition for standards, the options of unilateralism and mutual recognition, the challenges presented by China, and the overall place of the EU in the world."

This book explores how the European Union designs its trade policy to face the most recent challenges and to influence global policy issues. It provides with an interdisciplinary perspective, by combining legal, political, and economic approaches. It studies a broad set of trade instruments that are used by the EU in its trade policy, such as: trade agreements, multilateral initiatives, unilateral trade policies, as well as, internal market tools. Therefore, the contributions to this volume present the EU's Trade Policy through different lenses providing a complex view of it.