The European Union 's (EU) Common Commercial Policy , or EU Trade Policy , is the policy whereby EU Member States delegate authority to the European Commission to negotiate their external trade relations, with the aim of increasing trade amongst themselves and their bargaining power vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The Common Commercial Policy is logically necessitated by the existence of the Customs Union , which in turn is also the foundation upon which the Single Market and Monetary Union were later established.
27-474: [REDACTED] Look up intergovernmental in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Intergovernmental can refer to: Intergovernmentalism Intergovernmental immunity (disambiguation) Intergovernmental Risk Pool Intergovernmental organization Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
54-774: Is a continental intergovernmental union , similar but less integrated to the EU, consisting of 54 African states . The AU was presented on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia and officially founded on 9 July 2002 in Durban , South Africa to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union , a semi-annual meeting of
81-710: Is composed of 17 member states. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence . Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world. The EU is represented at the United Nations , the World Trade Organization , the G8 and the G-20 . Intergovernmentalism represents a way for limiting the conferral of powers upon supranational institutions, halting
108-578: Is uncertain. Historically, as laid down in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, the European Commissioner for Trade , acting on behalf of the European Commission, has always had to first seek approval from the member state governments in the Council of Ministers (now Council of the EU ), before either taking retaliatory trade measures (e.g. anti- dumping ) or conducting trade negotiations. This, has, since
135-597: The Council of Ministers , and later, additionally, the European Parliament . The common commercial policy officially came into existence in July 1968 alongside the common external tariff, following the 12 year grace period for the 1957 Treaty of Rome's signatory states to align their trade policies. In practice, however, member states had sought to take advantage of their combined bargaining strength prior to this. This included
162-539: The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the removal of tariffs between them required the formation of a customs union, with a common external tariff applied by all members to their trade with the rest of the world. Customs unions of the past, such as the Southern African Customs Union , had relied upon a dominant partner, in that case South Africa , to set the external tariff vis-à-vis
189-479: The Schengen Area (which includes 22 EU and 4 non-EU European states) passport controls have been abolished. EU policies favour the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within its boundaries, enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade , agriculture , fisheries and regional development . A monetary union, the eurozone , was established in 1999 and
216-658: The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) states: "The common commercial policy shall be based on uniform principles, particularly with regard to changes in tariff rates, the conclusion of tariff and trade agreements relating to trade in goods and services, and the commercial aspects of intellectual property , foreign direct investment , the achievement of uniformity in measures of liberalisation, export policy and measures to protect trade such as those to be taken in
243-536: The Commission concluding, a Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Association Agreements at the bilateral level, including, amongst others, with Israel in 1964, as well within the multilateral Kennedy Round of GATT negotiations, lasting from 1963 to 1967. In the intervening decades of managing the EU's Common Commercial Policy, the European Commission has developed a deep expertise in international trade, with its Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade) becoming one of
270-502: The Council of EU working parties and EU member state ministers. Both the European Parliament and the Council of the EU have powers to amend said proposal and must agree on a common final text. With global tariffs falling, and an increasingly integrated and complex Single Market, European Union member states have shown a growing appetite to conclude bilateral and multilateral agreements that do not pertain to exclusive competences of
297-652: The EU include the European Commission , the Council of the European Union , the European Council , the Court of Justice of the European Union , the European Central Bank , the Court of Auditors , and the European Parliament . The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens . The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within
SECTION 10
#1732851285825324-563: The Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter. How this might influence the EU's Common Commercial Policy in the future is not clear. The European Commission sought through
351-458: The Union, such as agreements on investment and intellectual property with third countries. Such trade deals are said to be "mixed agreements" and include the member states themselves as signatories, rather than just the EU. Owing to a different legal basis within the EU treaties, the elements that do not fall under exclusive competence require unanimity in the Council of the EU and must be ratified by
378-688: The best staffed, and most capable negotiating teams in the world. Along with the United States of America, it is one of few entities able to negotiate complex trade agreements in parallel. It has also played a key role in the development of global trade liberalisation , as a founding member of the World Trade Organisation , with former European Commissioner for Competition (1985–1989) Peter Sutherland being its founding Director General , and European Commissioner for Trade Pascal Lamy (1999–2004) later following in his footsteps. Article 207(1) of
405-548: The common commercial policy. This necessitates the European Commission, in order to take any actions within the Common Commercial Policy, to first table a legislative proposal, usually drafted by DG Trade, to the relevant European Parliamentary committees (the most relevant being the International Trade Committee ) eventually making its way to a full vote of the plenary, and simultaneously submit it to
432-482: The condition of supremacy of someone over someone else violating the principle of a "Union of Equals". However, from a neo-functionalist viewpoint, some scholars argue that despite the appearance of intergovernmental dominance, the EU's supranational institutions have progressively expanded their influence through spillover effects, which gradually limit member states' control and enhance deeper integration. The African Union (AU, or, in its other official languages, UA)
459-459: The emergence of common policies. In the current institutional system of the EU, the European Council and the Council play the role of the institutions which have the last word about decisions and policies of the EU, institutionalizing a de facto intergovernmental control over the EU as a whole, with the possibility to give more power to a small group of states. This extreme consequence can create
486-493: The event of dumping or subsidies. The common commercial policy shall be conducted in the context of the principles and objectives of the Union's external action." Article 63 states: "...all restrictions on the movement of capital between the Member States and between Member States and third countries shall be prohibited." Whether Article 63 confers to third-country investors rights similar in scope to those of intra-EU investors
513-619: The heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission , is based in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia. Common commercial policy (EU) The six original member states had signed the 1957 Treaty of Rome , establishing the EU's forerunner, the European Economic Community , with the aim of facilitating greater trade and investment amongst themselves and strengthening their bargaining power with outside states. As signatories to
540-508: The impact of domestic politics upon governmental preferences. The best-known example of regional integration is the European Union (EU), an economic and political intergovernmental organisation of 27 member states , all in Europe . The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Institutions of
567-424: The inception of the Common Commercial Policy occurred by qualified majority voting , though the Council tends to act by consensus when possible. The Lisbon reform Treaty further clarified what was already the case by defining the Common Commercial Policy as an exclusive competence , only to be acted upon by member states at the EU level. Successive treaty changes have also empowered the European Parliament in
SECTION 20
#1732851285825594-442: The primary actors in the integration process. Intergovernmentalist approaches claim to be able to explain both periods of radical change in the European Union because of converging governmental preferences and periods of inertia because of diverging national interests. Intergovernmentalism is distinguishable from realism and neorealism because it recognized the significance of institutionalisation in international politics and
621-481: The respective constitutional arrangements of the EU member states, usually requiring the consent of national parliaments , and depending on the issue, may include regional parliaments or even referendums . For the elements that fall outside exclusive competences, the European Parliament loses its amendment powers, but usually retains an overall veto via the Special Legislative Procedures laid down in
648-454: The rest of the world on behalf of junior states in the arrangement. In sharp contrast, the Community member states decided that they would jointly share in the management of a common external commercial policy by delegating authority to the commonly appointed supranational body of the European Commission , and scrutinising its decisions via the common institutions they had established – namely,
675-583: The title Intergovernmental . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intergovernmental&oldid=932891440 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Intergovernmentalism In international relations , intergovernmentalism treats states (and national governments in particular) as
702-478: The trade realm. Today the decision-making process for the implementation of EU Common Commercial Policy is under the auspices of the Ordinary Legislative Procedure (formerly called the co-decision procedure): The European Parliament and the Council, acting by means of regulations in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, shall adopt the measures defining the framework for implementing
729-429: The treaties for the scrutiny of EU foreign relations . The EU is also held to account in the way it conducts its commercial policy and general foreign relations via Article 3:5 TEU, which states that: In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of
#824175