A Cacophony of Voices? The European’s external Effectiveness in Global Trade Governance

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament (EP) is now granted joint powers with the Council of Ministers in the negotiation and ratification of trade agreements. Drawing on the principal-agent approach, this paper shows how adding a new multiple principal will have implications for the EU’s role as an actor in international trade. The focus is on the impact of this new institutional feature for the European Commission acting on behalf of collective (Council of Ministers) and multiple principals (Council of Ministers and EP) in the negotiation of bilateral trade agreements. This will allow us to demonstrate whether it increases or decreases the Commission’s discretion in global trade governance.