Efficient Multilateralism Or Bilateralism? The TTIP from an EU Trade Policy Perspective

Efficient Multilateralism Or Bilateralism? The TTIP from an EU Trade Policy Perspective
Author: Patricia Garcia-Duran
Publisher:
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

The EU bilateral trade strategy since 2006, including the TTIP, has been justified by the European Commission on the bases that deep and comprehensive trade agreements are compatible with efficient multilateralism. The Commission argument is the following: in a context marked by international supply-chains, preferential agreements that allow for progress on what has been achieved at the multilateral level (topics WTO) and in areas not already covered by the WTO (items WTO-X) may be considered as a stepping stone, not a stumbling block for multilateral liberalization. In other words, EU recent bilateral negotiations and agreements should be seen at worst as complementary to multilateral negotiations and at best as promoters.This paper challenges this argument by pointing out that the multilateralization potential of a bilateral agreement may not be a sufficient condition for compatibility between the bilateral and multilateral approaches. Their complementarity may also be influenced by what is happening at the multilateral level. Content analysis of a primary source of information - the Bridges Weekly reports - shows that there has been a change in EU actions in the Doha Round towards Brazil, India and China since 2009. Though the EU did not preclude the inclusion of these emerging powers in the high table of negotiations at any time and was in favour of the Bali agreement of 2013, its willingness to respond to their demands reached a plateau in 2008. That may signal a change in the nature of its bilateral strategy. Indeed, from 2006 until 2009 the EU may have sought bilateral partners among new important trade players (India, ASEAN and South Korea) to complement or even facilitate a multilateral agreement. Since then, however, the EU may have focused on reaching agreements with even more important trade partners: the old Quad members (Canada, Japan and the USA) as a way to ensure the market access opportunities that it cannot longer expect to obtain from the Doha Round. Following this analysis, the TTIP should be read, at least in the short time, as an example of efficient bilateralism.

The EU's Trade Strategy Shift from Multilateralism to Bilateralism. A Case Study on TTIP

The EU's Trade Strategy Shift from Multilateralism to Bilateralism. A Case Study on TTIP
Author: Benedikt Weingärtner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre:
ISBN: 9783668471016

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Globalization, Political Economics, grade: sehr gut, College of Europe, language: English, abstract: Foreign commercial policy represents a major domain of European integration and an exclusive policy competence for the European Union. The strategy, focus and practical approach of this EU trade policy has been continuously adapted to the new circumstances in an ever more globalised world economy. Thus, the EU uses its foreign trade policy not just for mere economic ends but also as a tool to strengthen its global political influence. Having been a champion of multilateral trade negotiations in the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) throughout the 1990s, the has EU changed this strategic orientation by the mid-2000s shifting its trade policy focus from a multilateral to a bilateral strategy and initiated preferential free trade agreements (FTA) with countries and regions all over the world. Among them, the one with the largest size was the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States of America, launched in 2013. Given the huge importance of the EU as a player in global trade, it seems relevant to examine from a political scientific perspective what have been the main reasons, drivers and motivations behind this enormous policy shift. I argue that external factors, domestic interests and institutional dynamics have collectively contributed to the reorientation of EU trade policy from multi- to bilateralism. I will test this hypothesis by means of three theoretical approaches: neorealism as a systemic theory, liberalism as a theory with a domestic focus and institutionalism to examine the role of the most important EU institution in trade policy, the European Commission. In order to get a more profound analysis of the main actors and motivations as driving forces of EU trade policy, I will furthermore use a case study on the, bo

Multilateralism in the 21st Century

Multilateralism in the 21st Century
Author: Caroline Bouchard
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2013-08-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135077215

This volume focuses on multilateralism in the 21st century and examines how, and how effectively, the EU delivers on its commitment to effective multilateralism. Presenting results generated by MERCURY, an EU research programme into multilateralism, this book addresses a central research question: does the EU deliver on its commitment to effective multilateralism? Globalisation has created powerful new incentives for states to cooperate and has generated renewed interest in multilateralism. While a large body of work exists on multilateralism as a concept, it continues to be ill-defined and poorly understood. This book sheds new light on 21st century multilateralism by exploring conceptual approaches as well as generating innovative, empirical knowledge on its practice. Research on EU external relations has increasingly focused on the concept of ‘effective multilateralism’. Yet, the application of this concept as a guiding principle of EU foreign policy in non-security policy areas has rarely been examined. This book explores whether the EU is pursuing effective multilateralism in specific policy areas, including trade, climate change and conflict resolution, and distinct geographical and institutional settings, both internal to the EU and in specified regions, international organisations (IOs) and bilateral partnerships. This book offers evidence-based, actionable policy lessons from Europe’s experience in promoting multilateralism. The European Union and Multilateralism in the 21st Century will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, international organizations, and European Union politics and foreign policy.

The EU and the New Trade Bilateralism

The EU and the New Trade Bilateralism
Author: Finn Laursen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2020-05-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0429594593

International trade policy, including the trade policies of the European Union (EU), has become controversial in recent years. This book illuminates the politicised process of the EU’s contemporary trade negotiations. The book uses the notion of ‘contentious market regulation’ to examine contemporary EU Free-Trade Agreements (FTAs) with industrialised countries: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the USA (TTIP), the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA), the EU-South Korea Agreement (KOREU), and the EU’s agreement with Japan (EU-Japan). It also analyses cross-cutting issues affecting trade policy, such as business dimensions, social mobilisation, parliamentary assertion, and investment. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.

Global Politics and EU Trade Policy

Global Politics and EU Trade Policy
Author: Wolfgang Weiß
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2020-02-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3030345882

This book explores how the European Union designs its trade policy to face the most recent challenges and to influence global policy issues. It provides with an interdisciplinary perspective, by combining legal, political, and economic approaches. It studies a broad set of trade instruments that are used by the EU in its trade policy, such as: trade agreements, multilateral initiatives, unilateral trade policies, as well as, internal market tools. Therefore, the contributions to this volume present the EU’s Trade Policy through different lenses providing a complex view of it.

The Politics of Transatlantic Trade Negotiations

The Politics of Transatlantic Trade Negotiations
Author: Jean-Frederic Morin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2016-03-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317019873

By focusing on the wider process of negotiations, this novel volume presents the first systematic analysis of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The authors include outstanding scholars and relevant practitioners from across disciplines and various academic institutions around Europe and North America, but also from outside of the transatlantic basin. While presenting a thorough examination of the process of TTIP negotiations, the volume is divided into four parts with each part examining a broader theme and offering three or four shorter exploratory chapters that are accessible to academics, students, policy-makers and a wider audience. The volume explores historical and theoretical aspects of TTIP (with chapters by Gamble, Keohane and Morse, Telò), the beginnings of the TTIP talks and the role of individual actors (Mayer, Novotná, Dür and Lechner, Strange), TTIP’s possible knock-on effects and consequences for third parties (Aggarwal and Evenett, Duchesne and Ouellet, Zhang, Ponjaert) as well as impact on multilateral institutions and regimes complexes (Mavroidis, Mortensen, Meunier and Morin, Pauwelyn). The authors highlight dynamics which underline the relationship between the United States and the European Union and argue that TTIP promises to have vast implications not just for economics but global governance and international system.

The Rise of Bilateralism

The Rise of Bilateralism
Author: Kenneth Heydon
Publisher:
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

As multilateral negotiations become increasingly complex and protracted, preferential trade agreements have become the center of trade diplomacy, pushing beyond tariffs into deep integration and beyond regionalism into a web of bilateral deals, raising concerns about coercion by bigger players. This study examines American, European and Asian approaches to preferential trade agreements and their effects on trade, investment and economic welfare. It draws on theoretical works, but also examines the actual substance of agreements negotiated and envisaged.--Publisher's description.

Multilateralism Or Regionalism?

Multilateralism Or Regionalism?
Author: Guido Glania
Publisher: Ceps
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2005
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This new book highlights the multifaceted effects of regional trade agreements and outlines the strategic options for EU trade policy. It points out what is new about this most recent phase of regionalism and analyzes the effects on economic welfare and trade transaction costs. The authors draw upon elements of game theory to explore a self-reinforcing mechanism that is resulting in a potentially damaging race for markets. They focus in particular on the multiple impacts of regionalism on the WTO and the multilateral trading order. The book arrives at an opportune time, as the Doha Round is reaching a critical phase.

Commercial Realism and EU Trade Policy

Commercial Realism and EU Trade Policy
Author: Katharina L. Meissner
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2018-06-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351047620

The European Union (EU) is at the forefront of engaging in external trade relations outside of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with entire regions and economic powerhouses. Understanding why and how the EU engages in one of the most active fields of external relations is crucial. This book fills a gap in the literature by analysing motives on the modes – bilateralism, inter-regionalism, or multilateralism - of EU external trade relations towards regional organizations in Asia and Latin America outside of the WTO. In particular, it examines why the EU turned from interregional to bilateral external trade relations towards these world regions – a question that is, to date, under-researched. By developing and testing an original approach rooted in realist theorizing coined ‘commercial realism’, it examines systematically the explanatory power of commercial realism against liberal-institutionalist approaches dominant in the literature on EU external relations through five in-depth case studies. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students in EU Politics/Studies, EU external relations, inter-regionalism and more broadly to International Relations and International Political Economy.

Strategies in Changing Global Orders

Strategies in Changing Global Orders
Author: Chin-Peng Chu
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2023-12-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9819972469

This book explores the intricate web of economic diplomacy, Asia Pacific strategies, and Mega Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that shape the region's dynamics. It also examines the European Union's perspective, considering its shared interests with East Asia and the USA. Avoiding military conflicts in sensitive regions such as the Taiwan Straits and the Korean Peninsula is crucial, as the economic ramifications of any such conflicts could be catastrophic on a global scale, fundamentally altering the course of the New Cold War. Divided into four parts, the book begins with an introduction, setting the stage for the ensuing exploration. Part two delves into economic diplomacy, Asia Pacific strategies, and Mega FTAs in East Asia, while part three examines the same themes in the context of the European Union. Finally, part four concludes with insightful remarks that tie together the findings from the preceding sections. As the world teeters on the precipice of a new era defined by global power struggles and geopolitical realignments, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the pressing issues facing East Asia and the EU. It challenges readers to reflect on history's lessons and find wise solutions through theoretical and practical approaches.