"The EU with a single voice: An institutional analysis of the external impact of European integration on EC-US trade negotiations"

Meunier, Sophie. (1997) "The EU with a single voice: An institutional analysis of the external impact of European integration on EC-US trade negotiations". In: UNSPECIFIED, Seattle, WA. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The central argument of this paper is the European Community does indeed affect international outcomes through its institutional features--mainly the voting rules and the autonomy of the Commission. The direction of this effect is determined by the negotiating context--defensive or offensive. This institutionalist argument goes against both the realist view that integration has no impact because it does not alter the structure of preferences of the member states and the opposite argument that integration transforms the European identities and leads the member states to adopt new positions. This paper also argues that in certain circumstances, contrary to the conventional assumption that the EC’s cumbersome decision making procedures have negative effects on its external bargaining potential, the EC can indeed use its institutional constraints strategically in order to reach its negotiating objectives.

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