TY - JOUR
T1 - The Unilateral Turn in EU Trade Policy?
T2 - The Origins and Characteristics of the EU’s New Trade Instruments
AU - De Ville, Ferdi
AU - Happersberger, Simon
AU - Kalimo, Harri
N1 - Funding Information:
Associate professor in political science at Ghent University, Belgium. Email: [email protected]. PhD candidate at the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG) of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium; his research was financed by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO PhD fellowship 11O0723N). Email: [email protected]. Professor at the BSoG (VUB) and University of Eastern Finland; his work on the manuscript was completed under the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Chair ECOvalence (grant nr. 101085564). Email: [email protected]. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Trade Policy Review – An Open, Sustainable and Assertive Trade Policy, COM(2021) 66 final (18 Feb. 2021).
Funding Information:
his research was financed by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO PhD fellowship 11O0723N). his work on the manuscript was completed under the ERASMUS+ Jean Monnet Chair ECOvalence (grant nr. 101085564).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - The introduction of over half a dozen unilateral EU trade policy instruments in the past few years seems to represent a major shift to the EU’s previous focus on bilateral and multilateral avenues. This article investigates the origins of the recent unilateralisation of EU trade policy and the main characteristics of the new instruments. What are the new instruments’ goals and why does the EU introduce them now? We identify six key factors for this trend: the rise of state interventions, increasing sustainability ambitions, a more adverse geopolitical context, the paralysis of the multilateral trading system, the resistance to bilateral trade agreements and changing preferences within key member states. The instruments can be divided in three clusters focused on competitive neutrality, sustainability, and security. They share to a larger or lesser degree five key features: reciprocity, deterrence, built-in engagement, extension of internal policies, and the pursuit of international public goods. Our analysis points at a unilateral turn with EU characteristics, offering a framework for studying trade unilateralisation in comparative perspective.
AB - The introduction of over half a dozen unilateral EU trade policy instruments in the past few years seems to represent a major shift to the EU’s previous focus on bilateral and multilateral avenues. This article investigates the origins of the recent unilateralisation of EU trade policy and the main characteristics of the new instruments. What are the new instruments’ goals and why does the EU introduce them now? We identify six key factors for this trend: the rise of state interventions, increasing sustainability ambitions, a more adverse geopolitical context, the paralysis of the multilateral trading system, the resistance to bilateral trade agreements and changing preferences within key member states. The instruments can be divided in three clusters focused on competitive neutrality, sustainability, and security. They share to a larger or lesser degree five key features: reciprocity, deterrence, built-in engagement, extension of internal policies, and the pursuit of international public goods. Our analysis points at a unilateral turn with EU characteristics, offering a framework for studying trade unilateralisation in comparative perspective.
KW - EU
KW - Trade Policy
KW - Unilateralisation
KW - Geopolitics
KW - Bilateralism
KW - Multilateralism
KW - Sustainability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166754549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.54648/eerr2023012
DO - 10.54648/eerr2023012
M3 - Article
VL - 28
SP - 15
EP - 34
JO - European Foreign Affairs Review
JF - European Foreign Affairs Review
SN - 1384-6299
IS - 1
ER -