The European Union’s commercial policy: between coherence and fragmentation

Abstract:

This article deals with the forces operating on the European Union's (EU's) commercial policy (defined in an inclusive sense as a form of international collective action) with the aim of identifying the coexisting influences leading to coherence and fragmentation. It begins by locating the question of coherence and fragmentation in terms of the EU's roles in the world political economy, and by reviewing recent literature which has explored a number of aspects of trade and broader foreign economic policies in the EU. It then proposes a framework for the analysis of the EU's commercial policies, based on three central elements: the EU's internal commercial policy regime, the characteristics of commercial policy issues, and the extent to which tensions between the EU's roles in the world political economy are managed. On the basis of this framework, it is argued that an assessment of coherence and fragmentation in specific sectors can be made, and that the EU's capacity to deliver collective goods in the commercial policy arena can be evaluated more broadly.