Die Zukunft umfassender und gemischter Abkommen der EU nach dem Singapur-Gutachten

Abstract

The article explores some legal issues regarding comprehensive trade and mixed agreements of the European Union (EU). The concept of mixed agreements is special to the EU legal order and under strain after the opinion 2/15 of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 16 May 2017, in which the Court defined the exclusive competence of the EU for concluding “EU-only agreements” in the context of the common commercial policy. This led to a split-up of trade agreements of the Union into “EU-only agreements” and mixed agreements on investment issues whereas no change of policy had been established for association agreements to date. Besides creating greater legal certainty, some problems remain regarding the to-be-improved acceptance of EU free trade agreements in the Member States. The analysis focuses on the division of powers between the EU and the Member States and its impact on mixed agreements on a political and legal level. It concludes that “mixity” has not been ended by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and can still be seen as a useful tool in the process of negotiating and concluding future comprehensive international trade and association agreements.