A guide to EU procedures for the conclusion of international trade agreements

Abstract:

The European Union (EU) was the world's biggest exporter and importer of goods and services in 2015, representing 32.51 % of global trade in goods and services. The USA and China, meanwhile, accounted for 12.01 % and 10.68 % respectively.

The EU has been negotiating trade agreements since the 1970s, then as the European Communities. Over time it has diversified its trading partners, and is now negotiating trade agreements with partners from every continent. The content of trade agreements has also evolved as EU trade competences have developed. The EU is currently in the process of amending and modernising some of its older trade agreements and is working on some of the most ambitious trade agreements since its inception (such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the USA).

The Lisbon Treaty modified both the EU's competences in trade and the procedure for concluding trade agreements, giving a stronger role to the European Parliament.

This briefing looks at how trade negotiations are conducted and concluded in the EU, and discusses some of the key issues in the current EU trade policy debate.

Author: Laura Puccio

ESO: Background information: Europe's Trade Policy: Can a Phoenix Rise From the Ashes? http://www.europeansources.info/record/europes-trade-policy-can-a-phoenix-rise-from-the-ashes/

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