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European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2014 pp 263–284Cite as

The EU’s Deep Trade Agenda: Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone Towards Multilateral Liberalisation?

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Part of the book series: European Yearbook of International Economic Law ((EUROYEAR,volume 5))

Abstract

As negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) have stalled, a number of WTO members have turned to bilateral and regional trade agreements to pursue the objectives and interests that they are no longer able to achieve at a multilateral level. In the context of the EU, this trend is best embodied by the 2006 Global Europe strategy, which spelled out the EU’s desire to enter into deep free trade agreements (FTAs) that are comprehensive insofar as they are not limited to tariffs but extend to non-tariff barriers, including services, intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, public procurement, competition, and investment. The manner in which such integration is planned to be achieved is indicative of the type of trade liberalisation being pursued. Great emphasis is placed on regulatory convergence as a means to secure greater market openings. This emphasis on the removal of domestic non-tariff regulatory measures that affect trade, as opposed to the traditional focus on the removal of trade barriers at borders, has been referred to as the ‘deep trade agenda’ and is at the root of an ongoing debate that highlights the tensions between trade liberalisation and regulatory autonomy.

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Notes

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  1. King’s College London, School of Law, Strand London, WC2R 2LS, UK

    Billy A. Melo Araujo

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  1. European Law, European and International Economic Law, University of Passau Chair for Constitutional and Administrat, Passau, Germany

    Christoph Herrmann

  2. Chair for Public Law and International Law, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Markus Krajewski

  3. Chair for Public Law, European and International Law, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Jörg Philipp Terhechte

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Araujo, B.A.M. (2013). The EU’s Deep Trade Agenda: Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone Towards Multilateral Liberalisation?. In: Herrmann, C., Krajewski, M., Terhechte, J. (eds) European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2014. European Yearbook of International Economic Law, vol 5. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40913-4_11

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