The Pursuit of Non-Trade Policy Objectives in EU Trade Policy

Borchert, Ingo; Conconi, Paola; Ubaldo, Mattia Di; Herghelegiu, Cristina

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3657043

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The EU trade policy increasingly includes a focus on non‐trade policy objectives (NTPOs), such as the promotion of human rights, labour standards or environmental protection in partner countries (European Commission, 2015; ; Lechner, 2016; Poletti and Sicurelli, 2016; Raess et al ., 2018). This is reflected in linkage strategies, that is, conditioning access to the EU market on NTPO commitments by partner countries (Borchert et al ., 2018), and has inspired a long line of literature emphasizing that successfully pursuing NTPOs through trade policy hinges on garnering support from domestic organized interests, including different business interests and civil society organizations (CSOs) (Meunier and Nicolaidis, 2006; Young and Peterson, 2014; Poletti and Sicurelli, 2018; Dür et al ., 2019). Notwithstanding the quality of these works, little is known about the alignment of EU policymakers' preferences with those of CSOs and other stakeholder groups and the degree to which different actors have similar preferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EU Trade and Non‐trade Objectives: New Survey Evidence on Policy Design and Effectiveness

Yildirim

Basedow

Fiorini

et al. 2020

J of Common Market Studies

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EU trade policy increasingly focuses on the achievement of non-trade policy objectives (NTPOs) such as the promotion of human rights or environmental protection, motivating research on the political economy determinants and effectiveness of linking trade policy and NTPOs. This research reports selected findings from a new expert survey of stakeholder perceptions of trade-NTPO linkages. These suggest that the views of EU institutions align with those of civil society organizations more than with business, but also reveal significant differences in the perceived effectiveness of trade-NTPO linkage strategies. Many stakeholder groups believe that policy instruments other than trade agreements are more effective tools to pursue NTPOs. These findings suggest that further research on EU trade policy and non-trade issues should consider the broader range of external policy tools available to the EU in pursuit of NTPOs and the determinants of differences in preferences for alternative policy instruments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

EU Trade and Non‐trade Objectives: New Survey Evidence on Policy Design and Effectiveness

Yildirim

Basedow

Fiorini

et al. 2020

J of Common Market Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These institutions resolve the dilemma of collective action and internalize international externalities from policy choices. Countries also use them to change trading partners' behavior and thus to promote desirable policy outcomes in non-trade issues by using access to markets as a lure (Borchert et al, 2020). Among developed countries, the EU has been at the forefront of the effort to link trade and nontrade issues (Milewicz et al, 2016).…”

Section: Eu Developing Countries and Gender-related Provisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s descriptive representation and support for the inclusion of gender-related provisions in trade agreements

Park

Shin

2023

Research & Politics

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Recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) tend to link gender and trade issues through gender-related provisions. This pattern is mostly observed in RTAs formed between global North and South countries. Despite a growing interest in gender-related provisions among countries, there have not been systematic studies on the formation of RTAs with these instruments. Our study underscores women’s descriptive representation. Female representatives care more about advancing women’s interests and improving their status than their male counterparts. Thus, we posit that when women’s political representation in a country’s legislature is high, it is more likely to support gender-related provisions. Focusing on RTAs between the European Union and democratic developing countries from 1997 and 2016, we find some support that women’s presence in the legislature affects trade policy outcomes. Countries with higher female representation in the legislature tend to join RTAs with gender-related provisions, but these countries do not increase their commitment to gender equality by adding multiple provisions on gender.

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“…Agreeing solutions for balancing climate protection and trade interests may succeed at best in the framework of bilateral or plurilateral trade agreements of like‐minded states. In particular bilateral agreements increasingly become linked to non‐commercial policy objectives (Bilal & Hoekman, 2019; Borchert et al, 2020). As interdependence has been growing, trade relations became more vulnerable to shocks (as observed during the Corona pandemic), which triggered considerations of political resistance to dependencies, leading as well to protectionist measures (WTO, 2020).…”

Section: Trade Relations and Trade Policy At Present: More Politicise...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The EU's strategic autonomy in times of politicisation of international trade: The future of commission accountability

Weiß

2023

Global Policy

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Trade relations face unprecedented challenges, which has led to an increased politicisation and contestation of trade rules. In response, the EU has changed its trade policy under the motto ‘Open Strategic Autonomy’ towards a more assertive policy. The EU seeks to significantly expand its room of manoeuvre and to gain more autonomy by strengthening the enforcement of its trade rights and by ensuring more effectively, including unilaterally, a level playing field. This reorientation engenders several new or amended trade policy instruments, but meets with reservations as the renewed politicisation of EU trade policy will have internal consequences and raise demands for more democratic accountability of the European Commission. The new policy instruments will enlarge its leeway in trade policy. The future of the EU's multilateral, rule‐ instead of power‐oriented political stance becomes unclear, which might undermine its negotiation position in WTO reform and collide with the EU's respect for international law. The tensions of the EU's new hybrid approach with its international commitments even more fuel demands for increased accountability of the Commission as a safeguard against employing the new powers for protectionism and disrespect to international law. The contribution analyses the need for increased Commission accountability in the redirected trade policy.

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The Pursuit of Non-Trade Policy Objectives in EU Trade Policy

Cited by 10 publications

References 10 publications

EU Trade and Non‐trade Objectives: New Survey Evidence on Policy Design and Effectiveness

EU Trade and Non‐trade Objectives: New Survey Evidence on Policy Design and Effectiveness

Women’s descriptive representation and support for the inclusion of gender-related provisions in trade agreements

The EU's strategic autonomy in times of politicisation of international trade: The future of commission accountability

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