16. Trade Policy Policy-Making after the Treaty of Lisbon

Author(s):  
Stephen Woolcock

This chapter examines the decision-making process in the European Union’s trade and investment policy following the changes brought about by the Treaty of Lisbon. It shows how EU policy competence has been extended progressively over many years due to internal institutional developments, but also in response to demands made upon the EU by external drivers. It also considers the respective roles of the EU institutions and argues that effective policy-making requires that all of the major actors have faith in the decision-making regime. Such a regime involving the European Commission and the European Council was developed by the EU over many years. The challenge for decision-making is for the European Parliament to be integrated into this regime. The chapter explains how the EU has shifted to a policy that includes the active pursuit of free trade agreements in parallel with efforts to promote a comprehensive multilateral trade agenda.

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1850067
Author(s):  
Catherine A Novelli

Commentary on Alberto Trejos's article "Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreements, and their Relationship with the WTO and the Doha Development Agenda." Catherine A. Novelli is a partner in the Washington office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP. Formerly Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe & the Mediterranean, Novelli coordinated U.S. trade and investment policy for more than 65 countries of Western Europe, Central Europe, Russia, the NIS, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Previously, Novelli was the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia where she played a key role in the formation of U.S. trade policy for Russia and Central Europe. She joined USTR in 1991 after serving in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Commerce.


Author(s):  
S. A. Afontsev

The paper addresses key political economy dilemmas associated with the formation of the Common Economic Space (CES) by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Analysis is focused on alternative integration strategies, prospects of the CES enlargement, and elimination of trade and investment barriers. Unification of regulatory norms and technical standards using the EU experience as well as negotiating free trade agreements with the EU and countries of the Asia-Pacific are shown to be crucial for the future of the CES project.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Thi Tu Oanh Le ◽  
Thi Ngoc Bui ◽  
Manh Dung Tran

The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam play an increasingly important role in the economy by the amount (representing 97.7% of Vietnam firms), contribute economic development and create more employment opportunities. However, because of economic crisis, financial downturn, unhealthy competitions, free trade agreements and others, the number of SMEs recently is downsizing in firm size, human resources and more and more SMEs go bankruptcy in the context of Vietnam. This situation may be due to the enterprise use ineffective management accounting tools.This article reviews and assesses the creation and use of management accounting information which has an important part to play with respect to planning, decision-making, monitoring and controlling of the activities of SMEs in Vietnam. Data collected from a posted survey of five enterprises with twenty two interviews of directors, chief accountants and management accountants. The results show that management accounting information has not really been interested from managers and accountants. Management accounting information is weak in quantity and poor in quality; administrators are operating firms primarily based on personal experiences. Therefore, management accounting information has not been promoted in the management, monitoring and decision making of SMEs in Vietnam. The addition of management accounting knowledge for managers and accountants is necessary for development of SMEs.


2019 ◽  
pp. 64-85
Author(s):  
Jonathan White

Developments in recent decades have pushed the EU from a structural vulnerability to emergency rule towards increasing reliance on it. Executive agents today are surrounded by powerful non-state agents of the market sphere who carry the authority to interpret socio-economic conditions, to make sense of moments of uncertainty, and to specify the responses they demand and when. Changes within the field of executive power itself mean their voices carry ever further into decision-making circles, as a governing ethos of problem-solving displaces ideologies of principle and responsiveness to public opinion. Emergency politics is a way of coping with weakening public authority in the age of governance. The chapter goes on to examine how these dynamics extend beyond the domain of economics to include policy-making in the field of migration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Lam ◽  
Güneş Ünüvar

AbstractThis article scrutinizes the investment chapters in the new EU Free Trade Agreements from a transparency perspective. The article examines the claims that the dispute settlement mechanisms in the new treaties are sufficiently participatory and more transparent than their predecessors. Procedural standards related to confidentiality of proceedings shall be analysed in the context of existing transparency safeguards in investment arbitration. In addition to procedural guarantees of transparency, the article examines relevant substantive rules affecting participatory aspects of dispute settlement. Furthermore, the article discusses forum-shopping strategies of the parties in the field of investment-related disputes, including internal forum-shopping and parallel proceedings using different procedural mechanisms. In this context, lessons from other fields such as international commercial arbitration related to transparency (in cases in which public interest is present) are highlighted. The proposal for the establishment of an integrated, multilateral court for investment cases is also invoked.


Author(s):  
Tapio Raunio

This chapter examines the relationship between European integration and democracy. The continuous transfer of policy-making powers from European Union (EU) member states to the European level has raised serious concerns about democratic legitimacy. The chapter assesses the claims that European integration undermines national democracy, and that decision-making at the EU level is not sufficiently democratic. It argues that while significant challenges remain, European integration has definitely become more democratic over the years. But there is perhaps a trade-off, with stronger input legitimacy potentially an obstacle to efficient European-level decision-making. It also underlines the multilevel nature of the EU polity and the importance of public debates about European integration.


1981 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew W. Cox

This paper looks at the question of whether or not political parties in Britain have autonomy in drawing up legislation when in office. Using the development of party and governmental policies for land values problems since 1947 as case study, the paper assesses the relative merits of various explanations of policy making. While it is true in this particular case that adversary party politics and relative governmental autonomy in decision making does exist, the paper concludes by assessing the consequences of this for effective policy implementation. It is argued that policy formulated primarily on the basis of ideology and dogma leads to policy failure and, ultimately, the generation of pluralistic and/or corporatist tendencies.


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