Conclusions on negotiations and conclusion of EU trade agreements

Summary:

The Council of the European Union adopted on 22 May 2018 a set of conclusions on the negotiation and conclusion of EU trade agreements. The conclusions set out the key principles underpinning the Council's approach towards trade negotiations from this date on.

Further information:

The Council takes note of the European Commission's intention to recommend to splitting between separate agreements provisions related to investment (requiring approval by the EU and its Member States) and other trade provisions (falling under the exclusive competence of the EU). The text also sets out how the Council intends to approach this issue in the future, and focus on the role of the Council in the negotiations.

This approach results mainly from a Opinion 2/15 of the European Court of Justice on the division of competences between the EU and its Member States. It also follows up on the 2017 State of the Union speech and the Commission's Communication on 'A balanced and progressive trade policy to harness globalisation' [COM(2017)492].