Cremona, Marise --- "The internal market and external economic relations" [2017] ELECD 284; in Koutrakos, Panos; Snell, Jukka (eds), "Research Handbook on the Law of the EU’s Internal Market" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 479

Book Title: Research Handbook on the Law of the EU’s Internal Market

Editor(s): Koutrakos, Panos; Snell, Jukka

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783478095

Section: Chapter 21

Section Title: The internal market and external economic relations

Author(s): Cremona, Marise

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

What is the relationship between the internal market and the Union’s common commercial policy (CCP), the basis for its external economic relations? Can the CCP be seen as presenting the external dimension of the internal market? These questions raise others, concerning the relative scope of the internal market and the CCP, the boundary line or overlap between the CCP and external powers derived from the internal market provisions themselves, and the extent to which the CCP does, or should, reflect internal market objectives. The link between these internal and external policy fields appears closer as a result of the Treaty of Lisbon, which expanded the scope of the CCP, introduced the ordinary legislative procedure into its decision-making, and attempted to ensure coherence between internal and external objectives. However if the CCP operates as a bridge between the internal market and external economic policy-making, it is not simply a conduit for transmitting internal policy priorities; we cannot see the CCP as simply an extension of the internal market into the external sphere. There are some fundamental differences between the policy structures for the internal market and external economic policy as established in the Treaties. The CCP has since the beginning had a close connection to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and now World Trade Organization (WTO). Much of the discussion on reforming the CCP over generations of Treaty revision has centred on the need to facilitate the EU’s engagement with the GATT/WTO.