The European Union and Fair Trade: Hands off?

The legal, political and economic rationales that underpin trade policy are reflected in the establishment and implementation of EU trade relations with the rest of the world. This comprehensive Handbook provides readers with a multidisciplinary overview of the major perspectives, actors and challenges in contemporary EU trade relations. 

Changes in institutional dynamics, Brexit, the politicisation of trade, competing foreign policy agendas, and adaptation to trade patterns of value chains and the digital and knowledge economy are reshaping the EU trade policy. The authors tackle how these challenges frame the aims, processes and effectiveness of trade policy-making in the context of EU trade relations with developed, developing and emerging states in the global economy. 

This Handbook presents students and practitioners with an accessible introduction to the policy processes in EU trade policy. Policy-makers, especially those outside of the EU, will also gain key knowledge regarding the trade policies of the EU by reading this.