The Case-Law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities Concerning the Law of the World Trade Organization and the Autonomy of the European Community in the Implementation of its Common Commercial Policy

Abstract

In the last years some authors have questioned the autonomy of the European Community when implementing its commercial policy, due to the amount of trade agreements signed by it and especially because of the commitments acquired in the WTO. There is no doubt that the compulsory fulfilment of these commitments is a conditioning factor with regard to the implementation of the Common Commercial Policy, but that doesn’t make the autonomy of the EU disappear in order to put its model of commercial policy into practice. In this respect, it’s necessary to underline the ample discretionary margin in the management of the commercial policy that the Court of Justice of the European Communities recognizes in favour of the EU institutions within the framework of its case-law related to the denial of the direct effect of the WTO agreements, as we analyze in this paper.