Tackling Technical Barriers to Trade in EU ‘New Generation’ FTAs: An Example of Open or Conflicting Regionalism?

This chapter analyses WTO-plus TBT provisions in ‘new generation’ EUFTAs in order to understand how the used approaches converge towards the multilateral system: whether they support and complement the existing rules, or instead contribute to regulatory fragmentation, which negatively impacts countries outside the preferential area. In a broader perspective, it inquires into the practical implementation of the EU’s strategic intentions to advance the multilateral agenda and to prioritize global inclusivity of rules, which is depicted as one of its main priorities in trade policy. The chapter first reflects on what could be the criteria for ‘open’ and ‘conflicting’ regionalism in case of TBT, which constitutes its theoretical underpinning, and then frames the TBT liberalisation provisions of ‘new generation’ FTAs.