Book Review: EU Trade Law, Rafael Leal-Arcas

Abstract

International trade is currently going through turbulent times. In response to the increasing paralysis of the World Trade Organization (WTO) during the last decade, we have witnessed a rise of megaregional free trade agreements, and their fall, too.2 The European Union (EU) plays a crucial role in this development as one of three leading global trade powers and a proponent of the liberal economic order. However, it seems that the EU with von der Leyen’s new ‘geopolitical Commission’ has to adapt to the circumstances, as free trade faces a resurgence of nationalism and protectionism and as the liberal economic order shifts towards a geo-economic order associated with the decoupling of the US and China. Regardless of the political, economic and even security pressures emerging from these developments, the EU trade policy known as the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) is regulated by complex internal rules set by the Founding Treaties of the EU. These rules are the subject of a new book entitled ‘EU Trade Law’ by Rafael Leal-Arcas, Professor of European and International Economic Law and Director of Research at Queen Mary University of London.