Going Beyond Trade? an Inquiry Into the Role of the Lead Ministry in Trade Policy

The European trade agenda has grown to include behind the border barriers and has also broadened to incorporate issues such as labour standards, sustainable development and human rights. However, not all member states are equally in favour of such linkages and debates have been raging for some time whether trade agreements should deal exclusively with trade or function as a tool for foreign policy. When inquiring into the causes of deviating positions, prior studies have largely focused on general ideology as a potential explanatory factor. This explanation was largely derived from the observation that France was the main defender of such a linkage while the United Kingdom was the main detractor. Counter cases are, however, plenty. The liberal Scandinavian countries are for example also in favour of a stronger linkage. So if material interests are not driving the member states’ position in this debate, then what is?

In this paper, I suggest to look at the organization of the trade administration as an explanatory factor. Trade as a policy lies at the crossroads of economic, international and financial affairs. By consequence, each ministry has its own views on how trade policy can contribute in the achievement of their policy goals. Through interviews and desk research, I show that the responsible ministry (foreign affairs or economy) and the autonomy it enjoys has an impact on the position of the member states in matters of “trade and” issues.