ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to map these changes in order to establish the wider context within which non-governmental organization (NGOs) sought to influence the European Union (EUs) position at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on access to medicines and water services liberalization. It also discusses the evolution of external trade governance in the EU. A two-tier delegation of authority has historically characterized external trade policymaking and the analysis situates non-state actors at the second level. The chapter traces the role of non-state actors in the EUs external trade policymaking process since the creation of the WTO in 1995. It examines the changing political opportunity structure by looking at access and participatory conditions in the major EU institutions the Council of the EU, the European Parliament (EP), and the European Commission. This chapter outlines the context within which non-state actors including economic actors such as business associations and non-economic actors such as NGOs seek to influence the EUs external trade agenda.
