National Administrations in EU Trade Policy

This book studies the relationship
between administrative capacity and a member state’s influence in the European
Union. More specifically, it studies member states’ ability to exert control
over the European Commission during trade negotiations. But what determines
administrative capacity and how do member states ensure their preferences are
defended during trade negotiations? A combination of qualitative fieldwork and survey-analysis
provides the answer. Interviews in Belgium, Poland, Estonia and Spain offer a
privileged insight into the functioning of national trade administrations and
its effects on their behavior in the Council of Ministers. Through survey data,
these findings are further corroborated. The book is aimed at a readership
interested in EU decision-making, negotiation theory, comparative public
administration and the international political economy of trade.