Since the end of the Cold War, the European Union (EU) has substantially increased its influence in international economic governance and the respective organizations. One of these organizations is the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which the EU enjoys a singular “closed” representation as a collective actor, represented by the EU commission in negotiations. The relevance of the WTO arises from its present day significance as only world-wide organization dealing with the liberalization of international trade and legal security in trade affairs. However, the realization of “new” liberalizing proposals has become more difficult over times, resulting in ever longer negotiation periods and longer trade rounds over time.
The following contribution deals with the question in as far the European Union could present itself as a “leading actor” in the context of the WTO Doha Round negotiations (2001-2015), focusing on its influence in the negotiations and the success of the EU in implementing its position(s). Due to the fact that internal differences (and especially a recultant position of the “protectionist wing”) sometimes hampered EU effectiveness in the past, focus is also on the support of liberal positions as indicator for internal coherence. The analysis displays EU´s high engagement in the negotiation process, as well as generally high liberalization efforts. Nonetheless, the European Union was not specifically successful in bringing about its positions in policy fields of high interest to the Union. This is connected to external factors like wider power disparities in the WTO arising from a strengthened position of developing countries/emerging markets. Despite an increased claim to shape international (economic) relations, the results shed a critical light on future negotiation successes in the WTO. Given this fact, the Union is probably likely to commit itself more and more to regional or transregional agreements (like TTIP) in the future.
