Trade Policy of the European Union

This comprehensive and clearly written textbook offers a long-awaited introduction to the trade policy of the European Union, the world's largest trading entity. Gstöhl and De Bièvre provide a comprehensive assessment of the common commercial policy, its relationship with other policies, like development policy, and of the EU's multi-level policy-making and international bargaining in this area.As well as providing a broad overview of the nature and development of the EU's trade policy, the authors analyse how relevant institutions and decision-making processes are organized and how this set-up fosters particular policy outcomes. Gstöhl and De Bièvre show how the thorough and critical study of EU trade policy can be conducted from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, enabling the student to tackle the ever-evolving political, economic, and legal questions that arise.Given the accessible writing, this book is recommended for both undergraduate and Master's students studying the EU and Europe in their Politics, International Relations, Economics or Law degrees, as well as those focusing on international trade policy.

Trade is the raison d’etre of European integration and the first policy to have been transferred to the supranational level in Europe. This excellent and much-needed textbook fills a gap in the literature as a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the history, functioning, and challenges of trade policy in the EU and should serve as reference for scholars and practitioners alike for years to come., This accessible text provides an excellent and broad-ranging overview of the European Union’s trade policy, and will be of great use to students studying European politics, law, policy and economics., Gstöhl and De Bièvre provide a comprehensive survey of the development and operation of European Union trade policy which is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand the role of the EU as a global economic actor capable not only of liberalizing markets, but also fostering development, encouraging sustainability, promoting regulatory standards, and protecting human rights.

Sieglinde Gstöhl is Professor of EU International Relations and Diplomacy, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. Dirk De Bièvre is Associate Professor of International Politics, University of Antwerp, Belgium.