EU’s common commercial policy (CCP)
The EU’s common commercial policy (CCP) has evolved over the years, also to
accommodate for new issues on the trade policy agenda. The Lisbon treaty
(2009) strengthened the Eus powers on trade, notably on services, commercial
aspects of intellectual property rights, and by bringing foreign direct investment
within the CCP’s scope, allowing for a more comprehensive approach to trade
and investment issues.
Yet how far exactly the EU’s competences extend is still subject to debate. This
matters for the legal nature of the EU’s trade accords and the approval process
an agreement needs to go through. In a nutshell, if a trade accord falls under
exclusive competence, it can be concluded as ‘EU only’ and approval can be by
qualified majority. If a trade accord affects areas which are exclusive
competences of member states, there has to be national ratification. If a trade
agreement concerns shared competences, they tend to be concluded as mixed
agreements.
The reason for this arrangement is simply that the EU’s competences over trade
should parallel its internal competencies for rule-making. From a political
perspective, however, mixed agreements mean a longer approval process with
an uncertain outcome ‒ and the backlash against globalisation and populist
challengers amplify this.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18.c:50/nws-01