L’UNION EUROPEENNE ET LES ACCORDS DE LIBRE-ECHANGE NOUVELLE GENERATION QUELLE EFFICACITE D’ACTION D’UNE UNION A COMPETENCE LIMITEE ?

New generation of free trade agreements (CETA, TTIP, agreements with Singapore, China, Vietnam, Japan i.e.) are the expression of the objective of making the European Union a global international actor. The external action of the Union is however dependent on the principle of conferral and the division of competences with its Member States. It results from Opinion 2/15 of the Court of Justice that the EU competence to conclude the free trade agreement with Singapore is not exclusive, as long as provisions concerning non-direct investments and dispute settlement fall under the shared competence of the Union and its Member States. The limits of the Union’s external competence and the conclusion of a mixed agreement jeopardise the effectiveness of the Union’s external action. However, the objective of an efficient external action allows a novel interpretation of the scope of the Union’s competence in the field of common commercial policy, comprising sustainable development provisions, as well as of the conditions of exercise of shared external competences.