The EU International Investment Policy after the Treaty of Lisbon 2009: An Institutional Perspective

This PhD evaluates the process of integration in the Common Commercial Policy (CCP), after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon 2009. The recent amendments have started a new chapter in the evolution of the CCP, which involves the expansion of the Union’s competences into the area of international investment. Through examining the ongoing interinstitutional conflict concerning the EU comprehensive investment policy, this thesis accounts for the role of the EU institutions in the process of integration in the CCP. To that end, the neofunctionalist theory has been adopted as a framework for the analysis. The theory places the EU institutions at the heart of the process of integration. In accordance with the neofunctionalist assumptions, the EU institutions have a propensity to further the process of integration by exploiting existing functional structures. The revised version of the theory presents the processes of integration as dialectical in nature, i.e. affected by both positive and negative forces. This PhD finds that depending on the context, the EU institution may adopt different roles in the process of integration. In relation to the future expansion of the CCP, the Commission and the European Parliament emerge as sources of pro-integrative pressures, but the Council and the Court of Justice of the European Union are considered as sources of countervailing forces. Thus, the future expansion of the CCP will be affected by the outcome of the currently ongoing interinstitutional conflict. This PhD finds that, to date, the countervailing forces prevail in the dialectical process of integration in the CCP and concludes that further transfer of investment competences from the Member States to the EU should not be taken for granted.