La politique commerciale européenne à l'heure du Green Deal

The author contends that the EU's current trade policy is characterized by an 'inertia' that prioritizes unconditional liberalization over environmental and social goals. While the EU aims for carbon neutrality via the Green Deal, its trade framework continues to promote 'new generation' bilateral agreements that limit state sovereignty through investor-state dispute settlements and 'living agreements' that bypass democratic control. The text argues that the EU remains a net importer of carbon, with one-third of its footprint stemming from imports, and calls for a shift toward trade regulation that conditions market access on the achievement of environmental and social objectives.

• The EU is a net importer of carbon, which undermines its domestic emission reductions; between 1995 and 2016, territorial emissions fell by 13%, but the actual footprint decreased by only 8% because "un tiers de l’empreinte de l’UE provient des émissions incorporées dans les importations".
• European trade policy is criticized for failing to adapt to sustainable development, continuing to pursue liberalization while environmental and social chapters in bilateral agreements remain non-binding and merely "encourage the respect of international commitments already taken".
• The EU's 'new generation' bilateral agreements create obstacles to ecological transition by expanding their scope to 'non-tariff barriers', which often treat health, social, and environmental regulations as trade hurdles rather than protections.
• The use of 'living agreements', such as those in CETA, allows specialized committees to change parts of an agreement after signature without democratic oversight, risking the reduction of legislation essential for environmental and consumer protection.
• Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms allow multinational corporations to challenge public policies in exceptional courts, as seen in cases like Vattenfall against Germany regarding coal plant environmental requirements.
• The economic gains from new trade agreements are described as negligible; for example, the CETA is estimated to provide a GDP increase of less than 0.01% for Europe by 2035.
• The author recommends that the EU redefine trade goals by moving away from general trade volume growth and instead using indicators like 'imported emissions' and conditioning market access on the achievement of social and environmental targets.

APA

Dupré, M. (2020). La politique commerciale européenne à l'heure du Green Deal. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/la-politique-commerciale-europeenne-a-lheure-du-green-deal/

Chicago

Dupré, Mathilde. La politique commerciale européenne à l'heure du Green Deal. Green European Journal, 2020. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/la-politique-commerciale-europeenne-a-lheure-du-green-deal/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Dupré |first1=Mathilde |title=La politique commerciale européenne à l'heure du Green Deal |publisher=Green European Journal |date=17 March 2020 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/la-politique-commerciale-europeenne-a-lheure-du-green-deal/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{dupr2020politique, author = {Dupré, Mathilde}, title = {{La politique commerciale européenne à l'heure du Green Deal}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/la-politique-commerciale-europeenne-a-lheure-du-green-deal/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }