The Politics of EU Trade (Wars)

Trade is currently one of the EU’s most high-profile policy areas. On the one hand, the EU and the United States have scrapped plans for their formerly ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and, instead, are engaged in a trade war in which both sides have imposed tariffs on exports from each other. This trade war could escalate if the US goes ahead with its threat to levy tariffs on EU car exports. On the other hand, and partly in reaction to the US-led trade war, the EU recently signed a preferential trade agreement with Japan, concluded negotiations for such an agreement with MERCOSUR, and jump-started negotiations for free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand. In view of these developments, this Section welcomes Papers and Panels touching on all aspects of EU trade policy: What is the role of the different EU institutions in shaping EU trade policy, especially ten years after the extension of trade policy-making powers to the European Parliament? Has trade policy become more politicized in recent years and now constitutes a political cleavage? How much influence do interest groups have on EU trade policy? How much power can the EU exert in trade negotiations with third countries and what impact does EU trade policy have on third countries? To what extent does the EU manage to use its trade policy to achieve non-trade goals such as the protection of the environment and labour rights? We look forward to Panel and Paper proposals that address these and other questions related to EU trade policy from a variety of theoretical, methodological and disciplinary perspectives.