Too Complex or Too Ambitious?

This ePaper looks at the recent politics of EU trade, and specifically at the political hurdles characterising the enforcement of free trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated by the European Commission. It argues that civil society advocacy groups have played a key, yet undertheorised, role in accounting...

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第一著者: Biffi, Leopoldo
フォーマット: Online
言語:英語
出版事項: Graduate Institute Publications 2022
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オンライン・アクセス:ONIX_20220701_9782940600236_949
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author Biffi, Leopoldo
author_browse Biffi, Leopoldo
author_facet Biffi, Leopoldo
author_sort Biffi, Leopoldo
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This ePaper looks at the recent politics of EU trade, and specifically at the political hurdles characterising the enforcement of free trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated by the European Commission. It argues that civil society advocacy groups have played a key, yet undertheorised, role in accounting for the recent politicisation of a number of EU FTAs, which has often translated into obstacles to ratification. The TTIP, the CETA, and the EU-Mercosur FTA constitute relevant examples. The analysis privileges a Commission standpoint, conceiving ratification hurdles as public-management issues tackled by Brussels in view of rescuing its trade-policy mandate from domestic vetoes. We argue that the Commission is particularly compelled to implement FTA reviews and safeguards when advocacy concerns are endorsed by official-level policy actors like the European Parliament, enjoying ultimate veto powers. In a final step, the research also enquires into the narrower reality of mixed FTAs, focusing on the case study of the CETA. In this regard, it suggests that prolonged national-level ratification poses no extraordinary obstacle to the Commission, as treaty enforcement is aided by lock-in dynamics involving both official-level and civil-society veto players – even in the absence of full de jure ratification. We conclude that, while the above ratification obstacles have been addressed by the Commission on an ad hoc basis, as contingent policy issues, their prolonged occurrence suggests that they will need to be tackled more systematically in the future. This will require operating at the level of treaty-design, by addressing pressing concerns like trade and sustainable development more thoroughly and bindingly ahead of concluding negotiations – in view of preventing otherwise inescapable enforcement hurdles.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-854762024-03-29T19:31:40Z Too Complex or Too Ambitious? Biffi, Leopoldo non-state actors and civil society governance State | Nation foreign policy economic development free trade agreements (FTAs) advocacy public management thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations This ePaper looks at the recent politics of EU trade, and specifically at the political hurdles characterising the enforcement of free trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated by the European Commission. It argues that civil society advocacy groups have played a key, yet undertheorised, role in accounting for the recent politicisation of a number of EU FTAs, which has often translated into obstacles to ratification. The TTIP, the CETA, and the EU-Mercosur FTA constitute relevant examples. The analysis privileges a Commission standpoint, conceiving ratification hurdles as public-management issues tackled by Brussels in view of rescuing its trade-policy mandate from domestic vetoes. We argue that the Commission is particularly compelled to implement FTA reviews and safeguards when advocacy concerns are endorsed by official-level policy actors like the European Parliament, enjoying ultimate veto powers. In a final step, the research also enquires into the narrower reality of mixed FTAs, focusing on the case study of the CETA. In this regard, it suggests that prolonged national-level ratification poses no extraordinary obstacle to the Commission, as treaty enforcement is aided by lock-in dynamics involving both official-level and civil-society veto players – even in the absence of full de jure ratification. We conclude that, while the above ratification obstacles have been addressed by the Commission on an ad hoc basis, as contingent policy issues, their prolonged occurrence suggests that they will need to be tackled more systematically in the future. This will require operating at the level of treaty-design, by addressing pressing concerns like trade and sustainable development more thoroughly and bindingly ahead of concluding negotiations – in view of preventing otherwise inescapable enforcement hurdles. 2022-07-01T15:59:46Z 2022-07-01T15:59:46Z 2021 book ONIX_20220701_9782940600236_949 9782940600236 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/85476 eng eCahiers de l’Institut image/png n/a https://www.7switch.com/fr/ebook/9782940600236/from/openedition https://books.openedition.org/iheid/8097 Graduate Institute Publications 10.4000/books.iheid.8097 10.4000/books.iheid.8097 72b0526f-f1c9-41b3-a451-219e0317e896 9782940600236 Geneva open access
spellingShingle non-state actors and civil society
governance
State | Nation
foreign policy
economic development
free trade agreements (FTAs)
advocacy
public management
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
Biffi, Leopoldo
Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title_full Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title_fullStr Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title_full_unstemmed Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title_short Too Complex or Too Ambitious?
title_sort too complex or too ambitious
topic non-state actors and civil society
governance
State | Nation
foreign policy
economic development
free trade agreements (FTAs)
advocacy
public management
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
topic_facet non-state actors and civil society
governance
State | Nation
foreign policy
economic development
free trade agreements (FTAs)
advocacy
public management
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPS International relations
url ONIX_20220701_9782940600236_949
work_keys_str_mv AT biffileopoldo toocomplexortooambitious