Abstract

This chapter will analyse the nexus between the EU’s trade policy and Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The chapter is structured by highlighting the dichotomy between trade-restrictive and trade-facilitating measures to achieve CFSP aims. This nexus operates against the backdrop of detrimental forces in which the politicization of trade is strengthened through the standardization of EU external relations principles and values, but is limited by the EU’s commitment to the WTO rules prohibiting a politically tainted trade policy. This chapter will first explore the legal and policy dimension of the CCP–CFSP nexus. Then, the trade-restrictive measures are discussed, focusing on the essential elements clauses in international agreements, measures that implement international law obligations, and the EU’s value-based trade agenda. Finally, the trade-facilitating measures are analysed. In particular, the EU’s GSP+ scheme and autonomous trade measures (ATMs) as foreign policy instruments are discussed and compared.