The Common commercial policy of the European Union

Abstract

The paper will deal with the analysis of the foreign trade model of the European Union (EU) by proving the theses that the changes in the foreign trade concept (which came about through the adoption of the new trade strategy in 2006) and modified institutional structure (resulting from the changes to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in 2009) have led to the actual abandonment of multilateralism as a leading approach in the EU’s foreign trade policy. The failure of multilateral trade negotiations in the Doha round and the inability of the EU to put the so-called Singapore's issues on its agenda contributed to the introduction of bilateralism as an additional approach (with the remaining committment to multilateralism) for regulating trade relations with potential partners through conclusions of preferential trade agreements (free trade agreements). Modification of the institutional framework and the extension of the competence of the European Parliament in the area of foreign trade, on the other hand, resulted in an increased access to the decision-making process on the Common Trade Policy (CTP) to interest groups that, by bilateral trade negotiation, achieve their trade and economic goals more easily.

Rad će se baviti analizom spoljnotrgovinskog modela Evropske unije (EU) kroz dokazivanje teze da su promene u spoljnotrgovinskom konceptu (do kojih je došlo usvajanjem nove trgovinske strategije 2006. godine) i institucionalnom ustrojstvu (nastale izmenama Ugovora o funkcionisanju Evropske unije 2009. godine) dovele do stvarnog napuštanja multilateralizma kao vodećeg pristupa u spoljnotrgovinskoj politici Evropske unije. Neuspeh multilateralnih trgovinskih pregovora u Dohi i nemogućnost EU da na agendu pregovora stavi tzv. singapurska pitanja su doprineli da Unija uvede bilateralizam kao dopunski pristup (uz naglašavanje privrženosti multilateralizmu), putem regulisanja trgovinskih odnosa sa potencijalnim partnerima kroz preferencijalne trgovinske sporazume (sporazume o slobodnoj trgovini). Izmene institucionalnog okvira i širenje nadležnosti Evropskog parlamenta u oblasti spoljne trgovine su, s druge strane, za svoju posledicu imali povećanje pristupa procesu odlučivanja o Zajedničkoj trgovinskoj politici (ZTP) interesnim grupama koje bilateralnim načinom trgovinskog pregovaranja jednostavnije ostvaruju svoje ekonomske i političke ciljeve.