External Consultants as Actors in European Trade and Investment Policymaking

Abstract

Over the last several years impact assessment studies have become a standard tool in trade and investment policymaking processes. Within the European Union there are two types of studies that examine the impact of trade policies: Impact Assessments (IAs) and Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs). Two characteristics of the latter are particularly noteworthy. First, SIAs signal an evolution in the tools employed in the trade and investment policymaking process. They analyse the potential economic, social, human rights, and environmental impacts of ongoing trade negotiations. Second, SIAs are an instrument for cooperation between an enlarged number of actors with an interest in the negotiation process. There are three main players involved in the conduct of SIAs: consultants, stakeholders, and the Commission’s services. SIAs are independent assessments carried out by external consultants during trade negotiations. Consultants should be perceived as policy actors, not true trade policymakers. Furthermore, the actorness of consultants should not be overstated, as several factors lead to a diminished influence of consultants in the policymaking process. Since they are not stakeholders, and much less policymakers, consultants should not be expected to be ‘drivers of change’. The negotiation of trade and investment policies has always been, and will continue to be, an inherently political process.