Shaping EU trade policy post-Lisbon : opinion 2/15 of 16 may 2017 : ECJ, 16 may 2017, opinion 2/15 free trade agreement with Singapore

Abstract

This comment analyses the legal context and significance of the Opinion handed down by the Court of Justice on 16 May 2017 on the envisaged free trade agreement between the EU and Singapore. At the heart of the Opinion are questions over competence, in particular the scope of the post-Lisbon common commercial policy, but including also the extent to which trade agreements may encompass provisions on sustainable development, regulatory issues and investor-state dispute settlement. The Singapore agreement is an example of the EU’s current generation of ‘deep and comprehensive’ trade agreements that represent the core of EU trade policy, and the Court’s Opinion is thus important not only for the future of the Singapore Agreement itself, but for future trade agreements (including a possible future EU-UK agreement).