El bilateralismo en las relaciones comerciales de la Unión Europea

Bilateral and regional cooperation has become the prime instrument for regulating world trade in the 21st century, as opposed to the multilateral forum of the World Trade Organisations (WTO) and the increasingly prominent protectionist attitudes of major economic powers. Considering the above, this contribution aims to facilitate the understanding of the new generation trade and investment agreements in the overall context of EU trade policy. We will start with an outline of the concept of new generation agreements and continue with an analysis of their regulatory heterogeneity, where we provide some considerations regarding EU’s competence in the areas concerned. The study will conclude with a revision of the growing predominance of competitiveness, reciprocity, and differentiation, as both the drivers and inspiration in the restructuring of the EU’s trade agenda, to further stress the relevance of transparency and democracy principles for the governance of the EU’s external action.