The Common Commercial Policy and Article 113/133

The Common Commercial Policy (CCP) is one of the oldest and most integrated policy areas of the European integration project. It was named in Article 3 of the Treaty of Rome as one of the main policies of the European Economic Community. As Member States were linked in a customs union, it was essential for them to draw up common policies regarding their commercial relations with the rest of the world. The Treaty of Rome was revolutionary in the sense that it granted the new supranational entity an external personality with the authority to set out, negotiate and enforce all aspects of trade relations with the rest of the world. This was to be achieved through a common trade policy based on the principles of a common external tariff, common trade agreements with the rest of the world and the uniform application of trade instruments across the Member States. The core elements of the CCP and the mechanisms through which it is to be conducted were set out in Articles 110 to 115 of the Rome Treaty. Although the Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice as well as the Constitutional Treaty made some amendments, the main principles of the CCP have largely remained the same.

Article 113, the centrepiece of the external trade policy, provides that the Council will give a mandate to the Commission to open negotiations with third countries, in which the Commission acts as the sole negotiator.