Expanding the internal market : an external regulatory policy for the EU?

Abstract

The Common Commercial Policy, while asserting liberalization as a primary objective, has no corresponding explicit regulatory dimension. Nevertheless, the uniform principles which it mandates, together with powers derived from the internal market provisions, have provided a basis for developing an external regulatory policy through both autonomous measures and the conclusion of international agreements. In a recent policy document, the Commission recognized the need to ‘examine how to strengthen the mutual links between internal and external regulatory actions and how to improve coordination between the two’. This chapter outlines the components of this external regulatory policy: the basis and scope of EU external regulatory competence; and the EU's objectives in developing an external regulatory policy. Taking as an example the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the chapter examines its role in shaping EU external regulatory policy, and how the interaction between the EU's internal and external regulatory policy affects the EU's policy choices in contributing to global governance.