Cambios de la Unión Europea en su política de comercio

Abstract

While the EU officials touted multilateralism under the WTO's patronage as the silver bullet towards trade liberalization 20 years ago, the 2006 Communication "Global Europe -Competing in the world" ushered in a shift in trade policy. It notably acknowledges that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) enable to go further and faster in promoting openness and deep integration. This sudden turnaround was ultimately consolidated through the 2015 release of the "Trade for all" whose primary motives were to adjust for the rise of global value chains and to respond to the fierce criticism on the Commission's non-transparent handling of commercial policy. By addressing WTO-X and WTO+ policy provisions in tandem with traditional tariff removal, Europe's PTAs aim at delivering reciprocal and effective opening guided by a high level of ambition. A paramount objective in this context is evidently improved access to vast international markets and fast growing regions in order to bolster the competitiveness of European enterprises, exemplified by landmark undertakings with North-American allies and initiatives in the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region. Also when consolidation bonds with Africa, Turkey, Russia as well as Latin America and the Caribbean, it transpires that the Commission takes -besides this orientation on primarily economic criteria -its partners' readiness and broader political conditions into account as well. Facing the prospect of an impending failure of the Doha Round, it appears that Brussels endeavors to prophylactically install its own safety net