9 - Enhancement of the European Parliament’s Monitoring for Better Coherence between Trade Policy and NTPOs

Summary

Since the Treaty of Lisbon, trade policy has become an explicit part of, and integrated into, the general framework of the EU’s external policy but must also be in conformity with internal policies. Thus, trade policy is subject to a requirement of multiple coherence. Beyond constitutional obligations, other drivers work for the inclusion of non-genuine commercial policy objectives in trade policy, such as the orientation of contemporary trade politics towards the behind-the-border issues of national regulation, so that trade policy became closely intertwined with domestic regulatory policy. Therefore the actors primarily responsible for legislation, i.e. parliaments, advocate for their extended participation in determining trade policy, and rightly so for reasons of transparency, control and political inclusiveness. Parliaments thus become actors of respect for and positive consideration of non-commercial policy objectives in trade policy, which also applies to the European Parliament (EP). Hence, an institutional design of policy formulation cycles and decision-making in EU trade policy that strives for better coherence of trade concerns with non-trade policy objectives (NTPOs) must focus on strengthening the influence of the EP and improving its participatory rights in decision-making and its control and monitoring mechanisms. Consequently, this chapter derives proposals for improving EP´s monitoring mechanisms for the benefit of NTPOs in trade policy from an analysis of weaknesses in the negotiation and implementation stage of trade policy.