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1. The European Union in economic diplomacy -- 2. A framework of analysis -- 3. EU external trade and investment policy-making -- 4. The European Union in international financial regulation -- 5. EU external environmental policy -- 6. EU development policy -- 7. Conclusions.

Regional trade agreements are playing a greater role in shaping trade and investment rules around the world. To date the study of preferential agreements has focused on their impact on tariff preferences, but as tariffs are reduced rule-making becomes more important in trade and investment. This book addresses the role of regional and bilateral agreements in rule-making; provides an analytical framework for assessing the impact of regional and other preferential agreements on rule-making; and illustrates the role of regional agreements in a multi-level process of rule-making. Seven detaile

AbstractThe current special issue of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy is concerned with economic diplomacy. This article looks at the role that the European Union plays in economic diplomacy and shows that the EU's role is essentially to facilitate, rather than to promote national companies as EU member state governments do. After discussing the various definitions of economic diplomacy, the article summarizes the areas in which the European Union constrains the scope for certain national policies of the EU member states. The article then discusses the factors that shape EU economic diplomacy and assesses the relative importance of these factors in specific negotiations.

The Treaty of Lisbon will introduce a number of changes to European Union (EU) external trade policy decision making. These involve the scope of exclusive competence of the EU, the role of the European Parliament and the inclusion of trade in the common external action of the EU. This article discusses these changes but also provides an initial assessment of how the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) might affect the role of the EU as an actor in international trade. After an introduction to the attributes of "an actor" in international trade the article then summarises the main changes the ToL will bring about before discussing their likely ramifications. It argues that the ToL can be expected to strengthen the EU as a trade actor in a number of respects and that these should, to some degree, compensate for the relative decline in EU market power due to systemic changes in the international trading system.

The European Union has recently shifted to a trade policy that envisages a greater use of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). In particular the EU is working on a number of new FTA initiatives. Policy statements also reiterate the EU's commitment to multilateralism in trade and to the completion of the stalled Doha Development Agenda. This paper considers the background to the shift towards a more active use of FTAs, the motivations and forces that have brought about the shift in policy, and the likely EU objectives with regard to the content of the FTAs. Unlike the US the EU has no "model FTA" to form the basis of negotiations with all partners. In assessing the outlines of the EU negotiating mandates for these new FTAs it is, however, possible to also draw on recent policy statements and the studies and reports produced on each possible new FTA. Finally, the paper discusses whether the EU can reconcile this greater emphasis on bilateral FTAs with its commitment to multilateralism in trade.