EU trade politics – heaven or hell?

Article is part of a special issue, ‘The European Union and the new trade politics’.

Abstract:

The analysis begins by examining a paradigm of successful EU trade politics (‘heaven’), and what it might constitute. It argues that both the EU trade policy process and the dynamics of EU trade politics are essentially positive factors. However, while this ‘heaven’ might exist in theory (and did in reality, to an extent, in the latter years of the last century), a series of largely external factors, notably those relating to development and globalization, have made EU trade politics more complex and difficult to manage. The remedy lies not in trying to ‘seal off’ the EU trade policy process from politics, but in seeking overtly political solutions, such as flanking policies to encourage public support for trade openness, taking a serious look at the idea of ‘collective preferences’, and instituting a greater role for the European Parliament.