Open Strategic Autonomy in EU Trade Policy

This book analyses whether the recent reorientation of EU trade policy towards stronger enforcement and more robust representation of interests, resulting in a series of new or amended legislative tools, is in conformity with the EU's international commitments, particularly WTO, FTA, environmental, and general international law, and with its multilateralist stance and underlying constitutional obligations. The analysis is also set against the consequences that would flow from within the EU legal order, providing readers with a comprehensive view of the external and internal constraints on trade policy that the EU should respect, as well as the leeway it enjoys. In case of potential tensions, it submits changes that would better balance the EU's new ambitions and international obligations. Furthermore, the book looks beyond the possible legal repercussions to consider the broader political implications of these instruments on the credibility of the EU's commitment to multilateralism and international law.

Wolfgang Weiß is Full Professor and Chair Holder of Public Law, European Law and Public International Law at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. His main research areas are EU, WTO, and international economic law. He regularly contributes to article-by-article commentaries on EU law and publishes books and articles in both English- and German-language journals. Two of his books won academic book prizes. His most recent monographs are WTO Law and Domestic Regulation: Exploring the Determinants for the Impact of the WTO on Domestic Regulatory Autonomy (2020) and a treatise on WTO law (published in German: Welthandelsrecht, 3rd ed. 2022, co-authored with Christoph Ohler and Marc Bungenberg). He is also a co-editor of Global Politics and EU Trade Policy (2020).

Cornelia Furculita is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair for Public Law, European Law and Public International Law at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. Cornelia's research interests lie in international trade law, especially the intersection of WTO, FTAs, and EU trade law. She is the author of The WTO and the New Generation EU FTA Dispute Settlement Mechanisms (2021) and a co-editor of Global Politics and EU Trade Policy (2020).