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The EU's Choice of Regulatory Venues for Trade Negotiations: A Tale of Agency Power?

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  • MANFRED ELSIG

Abstract

This article focuses on the EU's strategy for choosing regulatory venues to negotiate trade agreements. It analyses the existence of a clear venue hierarchy since the late 1990s and the recent change leading to a blurring of any clear preference for using bilateral, inter-regional or multilateral settings. The article challenges domestic explanations of the EU's choice of venue, stressing the autonomy of the Commission as a major factor. Using a principal-agent framework, it shows that the Commission's agenda-setting powers, the existence of interest divergence among principals (e.g. Member States, business groups) and the multi-level system facilitate agency. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author(s); Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Manfred Elsig, 2007. "The EU's Choice of Regulatory Venues for Trade Negotiations: A Tale of Agency Power?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45, pages 927-948, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:45:y:2007:i::p:927-948
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Evenett, Simon, 2007. "The Trade Strategy of the European Union: Time for a Rethink?," CEPR Discussion Papers 6283, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Richard Baldwin, 1993. "A Domino Theory of Regionalism," NBER Working Papers 4465, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Arvind Panagariya & Jagdish Bhagwati, 1996. "The Economics of Preferential Trade Agreements," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 51856, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eugénia Da Conceição, 2010. "Who Controls Whom? Dynamics of Power Delegation and Agency Losses in EU Trade Politics," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 1107-1126, September.
    2. Todd Allee & Manfred Elsig & Andrew Lugg, 2017. "Is the European Union Trade Deal with Canada New or Recycled? A Text-as-data Approach," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(2), pages 246-252, May.
    3. Eugénia Da Conceição, 2010. "Who Controls Whom? Dynamics of Power Delegation and Agency Losses in EU Trade Politics," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1107-1126, September.
    4. Baccini, Leonardo & Dür, Andreas & Elsig, Manfred & Milewicz, Karolina, 2011. "The design of preferential trade agreements: A new dataset in the Making," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2011-10, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    5. Katharina Luise Meissner, 2016. "A case of failed interregionalism? Analyzing the EU-ASEAN free trade agreement negotiations," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 319-336, September.
    6. Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, 2020. "Parliamentary Influence Ten Years after Lisbon: EU Trade Negotiations with Japan," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1540-1557, November.
    7. Toro, Francisco P., 2008. "Agenda Disputes and Strategic Venue Preferences: The Doha Crisis and Europe’s Flight to Regionalism," MERIT Working Papers 2008-048, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    8. Francesca Batzella, 2021. "The Role of the Commission in Intergovernmental Agreements in the Field of Energy. A Foot in the Door Technique?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 745-761, July.
    9. Manfred Elsig & Karolina Milewicz & Nikolas Stürchler, 2011. "Who is in love with multilateralism? Treaty commitment in the post-Cold War era," European Union Politics, , vol. 12(4), pages 529-550, December.
    10. Stella Ladi & Dimitris Tsarouhas, 2017. "International diffusion of regulatory governance: EU actorness in public procurement," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 388-403, December.

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