European trade policy has been in limbo for a couple of years. The big question everyone has been asking is whether modern free trade agreements can be ratified by the European Union at all. If a modern agreement must be ratified by national parliaments, no one knows if it will finally be ratified at all.
On Tuesday (16 May), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the proposed EU-Singapore free trade agreement must indeed be ratified by all national parliaments but it clearly draws the line of what is exclusive EU competence and what falls to be ratified by member states.
It might sound like bad news but it actually can lead to a good way forward. So far, all major EU trade agreements, such as the ones with Canada and Korea, have been mixed. Now we know the lay of the land.
In essence, the court says that the EU has exclusive competence to negotiate on trade in services, intellectual property rights, provisions none labor and environmental standards and competition policy – all areas member states have previously been hesitant to leave to EU trade nnegotiators.
Read more: Trust in EU trade policy boosted by court decision – EURACTIV.com
On Tuesday (16 May), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the proposed EU-Singapore free trade agreement must indeed be ratified by all national parliaments but it clearly draws the line of what is exclusive EU competence and what falls to be ratified by member states.
It might sound like bad news but it actually can lead to a good way forward. So far, all major EU trade agreements, such as the ones with Canada and Korea, have been mixed. Now we know the lay of the land.
In essence, the court says that the EU has exclusive competence to negotiate on trade in services, intellectual property rights, provisions none labor and environmental standards and competition policy – all areas member states have previously been hesitant to leave to EU trade nnegotiators.
Read more: Trust in EU trade policy boosted by court decision – EURACTIV.com
