EU trade and non-trade objectives: new survey evidence on policy design and effectiveness

EU trade policy increasingly focuses on the achievement of non-trade policy objectives (NTPOs) such as the promotion of human rights or environmental protection, motivating research on the political economy determinants and effectiveness of linking trade policy and NTPOs. This research reports selected findings from a new expert survey of stakeholder perceptions of trade–NTPO linkages. These suggest that the views of EU institutions align with those of civil society organizations more than with business, but also reveal significant differences in the perceived effectiveness of trade–NTPO linkage strategies. Many stakeholder groups believe that policy instruments other than trade agreements are more effective tools to pursue NTPOs. These findings suggest that further research on EU trade policy and non-trade issues should consider the broader range of external policy tools available to the EU in pursuit of NTPOs and the determinants of differences in preferences for alternative policy instruments.