DEPATRA (2018-2021)

 

Abstract

 

"Democracy and Parliamentary Involvement in EU trade policies - DEPATRADE" envisages to deepen knowledge on the EU's trade policy within the wider framework of its foreign policies and at the intersection of trade policy and other EU policy fields with a dedicated external dimension. DEPATRADE concentrates on the altered commercial policy tasks and functions, with the central question being whether and to what extent these reforms have the potential to improve in the democratic legitimacy of the EU's common commercial policy and a reduction in the democracy deficit. Building on the University's curricula for the BA, MA, and PhD programmes in Political Science, DEPATRADE offers a unique EU studies programme on the issue of EU foreign and trade policies and their parliamentary dimensions. Building on the conceptual framework on "multi-level-parliamentarism", we aim at teaching on, discussing and analysing the EU's trade policies and its functional interlinkages with regard to the concepts of parliamentary democracy and dual legitimacy of the EU, and the roles, profiles, and functions of parliaments, interest groups and non-governmental organisations. DEPATRADE's overall questions are the following: Do the dynamics of international trade politics and global governance erode parliamentary democracy? How do parliamentary bodies (re)-act in and adapt to a dynamic, multi-layered, institutional and procedural set up. Do international treaties matter - and in how far do they matter - for the set-up and the functioning of parliamentary involvement and democracy? Our ambition is to offer students, young researchers, academia, political practitioners, and civil society organisations a comprehensive, theoretically grounded and balanced reflection on the development of the EU's trade policy, its functional links to development, environmental and climate, monetary and human rights policies as well as to the general framework of the EU's Foreign and Security policy.