EU Trade Agreements and European Integration: Commission Autonomy or Council Control?

The book explores how 50 bilateral trade agreements negotiated by the European Commission from 1970-2008 shaped European integration. It argues that the Commission used these agreements to advance integration by expanding their scope and institutional depth through the establishment of joint bodies. It also shows that the Commission relied on asymmetric information to shape trade agreements in earlier negotiations and later used its agenda-setting power to submit agreements that the Council could only accept or reject.

Format: Unspecified
Length: 242 pages
Publication date: 23 November 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

The European Union (EU) has a rich history of negotiating bilateral trade agreements (BTAs) with various partners around the world. From 1970 to 2008, the European Commission (EC) engaged in 50 such negotiations, which played a significant role in shaping European integration. In this book, we will explore the impact of these BTAs on European integration and the strategies employed by the EC to advance it.

The book argues that the EC used these trade agreements as a tool to promote European integration. By expanding the scope and institutional depth of these agreements, the EC aimed to create a wider and more integrated European economy. To achieve this, the EC established joint bodies, such as the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), even in the face of resistance from some member states in the Council of the European Union.

The book employs principal-agent theory to explain the autonomy and control of the EC and the Council in the negotiation of trade agreements. It demonstrates that the EC relied on asymmetric information to shape its trade agreements in earlier negotiations, while in later negotiations, it harnessed its agenda-setting power to submit agreements that the Council could only accept or reject.

The book argues that these 50 trade agreements had a significant impact on European integration. They increased the external action capability of the EC, transforming it into a truly global political actor. Each BTA was a step towards greater economic integration and closer political cooperation within the EU.

The book will be of interest to scholars and students of European Union Studies, EU policy-making, practitioners involved in trade and external relations, and engaged citizens in Europe and abroad, particularly in India, which is prominently featured in the book.

The introduction chapter of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Weight: 640g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032378848