EU bilateral trade policy takes the form of Association Agreements or free trade agreements with third countries. Trade and trade-related topics also form the core of the currently ‘in vogue,’ but not especially effective region-to-region agreements negotiated with other regions that are intended to serve the dual aim of market opening for EU exporters and the promotion of integration within the partner region.
Plurilateral agreements, such as the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) or Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft under the aegis of the WTO, or various agreements on investment under the aegis of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) are negotiated by the EU (or its Member States) with like-minded or similarly developed countries on specialist topics.
The multilateral dimension of EU trade policy centres on the WTO and takes the form of multilateral rounds of negotiation such as the Doha Development Agenda. But it is important not to forget work in a range of WTO committees concerned with implementation, the review of WTO Members trade policies (Trade Policy Review Mechanism), including the review of preferential trade agreements in the WTO’s Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, and dispute settlement. Each bilateral or region-to-region agreement also involves ongoing work on implementation and the settlement of disputes.