The EU and international economic regimes

1
The EU and international economic regimes

• Alasdair Young
• University of Glasgow

2
The EU as an IER

• EU not always the, or the only, relevant actor
• MS frequently embedded in multiple IER
• The EU as a model
• Internal experience makes it more effective
  externally

3
IER a fruitful area of enquiry

• EU-specific reasons
• Powerful (capabilities)
• Uneven integration (ability)
• IER reasons
• Membership number and relative power
• Institutional form
• EU membership
• Scope for historical analysis
• EU development (capability and ability)
• Sequencing

4
Map of EU participation in IERs
5
Tunnel vision in the literature

• Empirical
• Overwhelmingly GATT/WTO
• One at a time (at one time)
• Analytical
• Institutionalist
• Rationalist

6
Research questions

• How does EU participate in IERs?
• What are the key actors substantive preferences?
• What explains EUs status in an IER?
• When and why do MS cooperate?
• How do competence and status affect the
  aggregation of MS preferences?
• How do competence and status influence the EUs
  strategy?
• What influences the EUs preference for a
  particular IER?
• Does the EU have preferences regarding regime
  design?
• When can the EU successfully promote its model?
• What does variation in the EUs success across
  regimes reveal about the conditions of its
  influence?
• Have the EUs preferences been affected by
  participation in IERs?