The European Union as a Global Actor: Trade, Finance and Climate Policy (Springer Texts in Political Science and International Relations)

This book focuses on the European Union as an important actor in international relations and international political economy. The EU negotiates international economic agreements, represents Europe in international organizations, and is a major trading bloc and currency area. To what extent and under what conditions the EU can use its considerable economic power to assert its interests in the international arena is a relevant question for students, researchers and practitioners alike. To explore this question, the textbook introduces the concept of “actorness” and presents an overview of the actorness debate and theories used to explain actorness. In addition, it includes three empirical chapters on trade, finance and climate policy that apply various concepts and theories to study European actorness in the respective policy areas. Preface Contents About the Authors List of Figures 1: Introduction 1.1 Studying European Actorness 1.2 Overview of the Actorness Debate 1.3 Comparative Perspectives on Actorness 1.4 Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Actorness 1.5 Explaining European Actorness: A View from International Relations, International Political Economy, and European Integrat... 1.5.1 (Neo-)Realist Perspectives 1.5.2 Liberal Perspectives 1.5.2.1 Liberal Intergovernmentalism 1.5.2.2 Stakeholder Perspectives 1.5.2.3 Two-Level Games 1.5.2.4 Principal-Agent Approach 1.5.3 Constructivist Perspectives 1.5.3.1 International Organizations as Bureaucracies 1.5.4 Leadership Approaches 1.6 Chapter Overview References 2: Trade 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Historical Development of EU Trade Policy Box 2.1 Levels of Economic Integration 2.3 Actors and Processes in EU Trade Policy 2.3.1 Mandate 2.3.2 Negotiations 2.3.3 Ratification 2.3.4 EU Trade Strategies Box 2.2 EU Trade Strategies Over Time 2.4 The European Union as an Actor in International Trade Policy 2.4.1 The EU in the World Trade Organization Box 2.3 The Emergence of the Multilateral Trade Regime: From GATT to WTO Box 2.4 The Basic Principles of the WTO 2.4.1.1 Agriculture 2.4.1.2 The Singapore Issues Box 2.5 The Singapore Issues 2.4.1.3 Dispute Settlement in the WTO Box 2.6 The WTO Dispute Settlement Procedure 2.4.2 The EU ́s Nonreciprocal Trade Policy 2.4.2.1 Trade Remedies 2.4.2.2 The Generalized Scheme of Preferences Box 2.7 The EU ́s Generalized Scheme of Preferences 2.4.3 Bilateral and Interregional Trade Relations of the European Union 2.4.3.1 Trade Relations with the ACP Countries 2.4.3.2 Transatlantic Trade Relations 2.4.3.3 Trade Relations with Latin America 2.4.3.4 Trade Relations with Asia 2.4.4 Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements Box 2.8 Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements 2.4.5 Brexit and EU Trade Policy 2.5 European Actorness in International Trade Policy 2.5.1 Presence 2.5.2 Capability 2.5.3 Opportunity 2.6 Conclusion References 3: Money and Finance 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Monetary, Financial, and Fiscal Policy in the EU Box 3.1 The Bretton Woods System 3.2.1 Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy Box 3.2 Membership of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Economic Community (EEC), Since 1993 European ... Box 3.3 Membership of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Box 3.4 Monetary Policy Instruments Box 3.5 The European Safety Net: ESFS, EFSM, ESM 3.2.2 Financial Regulation and Supervision Box 3.6 The Level 3 Committees Box 3.7 The European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) Since 2011 Box 3.8 The State-Bank Nexus in the Euro Area 3.2.3 Fiscal Policy Box 3.9 The Copenhagen Criteria Box 3.10 The Convergence Criteria for Accession to the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) (TFEU 2009, Art. 126, 140, P... Box 3.11 The European Semester Box 3.12 Six- and Two-Pack Box 3.13 Concerns Over Institutional Shortcomings at the Euro ́s Creation 3.3 The EU in International Financial Organizations and Fora 3.3.1 Group of Twenty Box 3.14 Membership of the G20 3.3.2 International Monetary Fund 3.3.3 Financial Stability Board Box 3.15 Membership of the FSB 3.3.4 Basel Committee on Banking Supervision 3.3.5 International Organization of Securities Commissions 3.3.6 International Association of Insurance Supervisors 3.4 EU Actorness in International Financial Regulation 3.4.1 How Can We Explain EU Actorness? 3.4.1.1 Liberal Intergovernmentalism 3.4.1.2 Principal-Agent Theory 3.4.2 The Basel III Accord 3.5 Conclusion Box 3.16 The Response to the COVID-19 Crisis: A ``Hamiltonian Moment ́ ́? References 4: Climate Policy 4.1 Introduction Box 4.1 Key Contractual Milestones of the Climate Regime 4.2 Climate Change as a Problem for National and International Politics 4.3 Institutional Responsibilities in Environmental and Climate Policy 4.4 The EU as an Actor in International Climate Policy 4.4.1 A Brief Genesis of the Climate Regime 4.4.2 European Actorness in the Climate Regime: Three Case Studies 4.4.2.1 The Kyoto Protocol 1997 4.4.2.2 The Copenhagen Accord 2009 4.4.2.3 The Paris Agreement 2015 4.5 EU Climate Policy Between Energy and Trade Issues 4.5.1 Energy Policy 4.5.2 Trade Policy 4.6 Conclusion and Further Perspectives References 5: Conclusion 5.1 Institutional Preconditions of European Actorness 5.2 Evaluating Actorness in Trade, Finance, and Climate Policy 5.3 Further Prospects