ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of the common commercial policy and especially the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon. It explains the considerable changes made during the last treaty revision. The chapter assesses the impact of the Lisbon provisions on EU actorness. The common commercial policy (CCP) is one of the oldest and most integrated policy areas of the European integration project. At the Nice Intergovernmental Conferences (IGC), external trade policy formed part of the broader issue of the extension of qualified majority voting. The impact of the Lisbon provisions on EU trade policy actorness are not yet entirely clear, given the short time span since the treaty came into force. Overall, it seems that the EU's role as an actor in trade policy-making will be enhanced through the new arrangements. However, a lot depends on the implementation of the Lisbon provisions, especially with regard to how the European Parliament will exercise the newly acquired powers.
