Power in Global Trade Governance: Is the EU a Unitary Actor, a Tool for Dominance, or a Site of Contestation? GATS and the TTIP Negotiations

Abstract

The European Union (EU) plays multiple roles within global trade governance as a unitary actor with particular interests to promote, a tool for dominance by powerful interests, and a site of contestation facilitating civil society mobilization. Identifying these roles is key to analyzing the role of the EU particularly in times of crisis in global trade governance where new forms of politics are most likely to emerge. This is investigated through considering two cases of politically sensitive trade negotiation in which the EU played, and continues to play, an active role: the GATS 2000 negotiations and the EU-US TTIP.

Keywords:

• civil society
• European Union
• GATS
• TTIP
• WTO

Notes

¹ This data are taken from the “Seattle to Brussels” website, http://www.s2bnetwork.org.

² Based upon interviews with Canadian activists, as well as analyzing campaign materials.

³ Personal interview.