EU Values in International Trade
The EU’s Common Commercial Policy (which covers EU trade and investment law and policy) is not only a tool to protect Europe’s commercial and strategic interests. It is also an important and powerful foreign policy tool. Under Article 21 TEU, the EU’s action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles that lay at its core, such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the principles of international law.
Article 21 also aspires to safeguard a number of objectives and interests that are not economic in nature (i.e. to preserve peace, strengthen international security, and preserve the environment). As Article 207 TFEU clearly instructs, the EU’s trade policy must be conducted in the context of those principles and objectives.
The combination of the EU’s trade policy with non-trade objectives creates tensions at multiple levels.
- First, the EU’s institutions and agencies may differ in terms of the weight to be given to Europe’s commercial interests against non-trade values.
- Second, there is also an inevitable discordance among EU member states in terms of how precisely they incorporate non-trade values in implementing the EU’s trade policies and law.
- Third, there are also tensions among various non-trade objectives. For instance, restrictions on international trade on the basis of human rights may not contribute to the effective achievement of sustainable development.
- Finally, the invocation of non-trade values creates a tension with non-EU third states which may not situate trade law and policies as an effective vehicle to achieve non-trade values. At the same time, the dissonance between the EU’s policies and those of other trade partners creates an opportunity for EU institutions to be an active norm-setting actor at the international level.
The interpretation of specific values and objectives is context dependent, varying according to the institution and actors involved in the formulation and implementation of the EU’s trade and investment policy. This is determinative of the nature of the abovementioned multilevel tensions. The multi-level tensions result in uncertainties in the EU’s value-based international trade and investment policies, which undermine the competitiveness of the EU and its normative presence at the global level in the long run.
Coordinators
Contact
You are welcome to contact the coordinators of this building block, Alexandra Hofer and Thomas Verellen, with your research inquiries and other suggestions.
Research and other output
Building Block researchers actively publish their research outcomes, which can be found on their respective profile pages. In addition, Building Block members have edited special issues in leading journals in the field, including a special issue on economic and non-economic values and objectives in EU trade policy, published in Europe and the World in 2019 (see here), and a special issue on the unilateral turn in EU trade policy published in the European Foreign Affairs Review in 2023 (see here).
Opportunities for visiting researchers
The Building Block on EU Value-Based Trade welcomes visiting researchers at the junior or senior levels, who wish to share or connect their ongoing research with the themes of the Building Block during a visiting stay in Utrecht. Please contact the coordinators.
Upcoming Events
4-5 December 2025, PhD and Early Career Workshop -- On Thursday and Friday, 4-5 December 2025, our building block is proud to organize a two-day workshop on "Reviving Multilateralism - What Role for the EU?" in collaboration with T.M.C. Asser Instituut, CLEER, and the University of Groningen. This event builds on our earlier trade and investment law workshops, of which we have successfully organized three editions. Held at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, this workshop will gather PhD and early-career scholars to delve into the EU's role in reviving multilateralism amidst global challenges. Participants will engage in presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities. Submit your abstract and CV to e.kassoti@asser.nl. The call for papers is available here and runs until 30 June 2025.
Past events
The Building Block on EU Value-Based Trade has been organising a series of workshops and seminars in association with external researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders. Our latest events were:
12 December 2024, Book presentation — On Thursday, 12 December 2024, a hybrid book review event was held at Johanna Hudiggebouw, featuring Dr. Gesa Kübek's book EU Trade and Investment Treaty-Making Post-Lisbon: Moving Beyond Mixity. Dr. Kübek presented her comprehensive legal analysis of mixity since the Lisbon Treaty, exploring theoretical and practical aspects, the common commercial policy, and recent EU Court of Justice case law. Commentators Dr. Urszula Jaremba and Dr. Thomas Verellen provided their insights on this significant work. The discussion addressed challenges such as non-ratification of mixed agreements and the new EU-UK trade agreement post-Brexit, highlighting mixity as a deliberate substantive design choice in EU external relations law. More information on the book is available on the Bloomsbury website.
6 December 2024, 3rd Utrecht EU Trade and Investment Law Workshop — On Friday, 6 December 2024, the Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE)'s building block on EU Values in International Trade held its third annual workshop on EU trade and investment policy, themed "Questioning Economic Security." Scholars discussed the European Commission's economic security strategy, including reforms to the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation and the Anti-Coercion Instrument. The workshop also examined the EU's economic sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Researchers presented papers and received expert feedback, with selected papers to be published in a special issue of the Utrecht Law Review in the course of 2025.