The European Union as a Global Model for Trade and Investment

Abstract

This volume analyses some thorny issues surrounding the new generation of EU trade and investment agreements. The idea originated in an academic event that the editors organised at the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo in October 2014. The volume builds on the conviction that the agreements that the EU is about to conclude or negotiating manifestly represent a unique, unprecedented opportunity for the Union to set international standards and promote its values on a global scale. The agreements in question offer an excellent opportunity to the EU to reconcile the ostensible contradiction between the role of norm and value setter, on the one hand, and the promotion of trade and investment interests, on the other. Or, to put it different, between a value-based and an interest-based EU trade and investment policy. This volume intends to contribute to the already flourishing academic debate by providing an insight into some of the most problematic issues that recent developments have brought into the open.