Contemporary trade policy is increasingly framed in geo-strategic terms. But how much of that rhetoric is reflected in actual policy choices by the EU or its trading partners? This book provides a first systematic study of the broader international context in which EU trade agreements are conceived, negotiated, and designed. Building on a refined conceptualisation of geo-economics, the book develops a cogent framework that combines insights from scholarship on the design of free trade agreements with ideas from foreign policy analysis. Empirically, the analysis focuses on the relations between the EU and the Asia-Pacific. Following the United States pivot to Asia and the EUs Global Europe strategy, Chinas backyard has become the main arena in which global powers geo-economic strategies overlap. Building on a series of case-studies, combining the perspectives from the EU and its trading partners, the book shows that the rhetoric of geo-economic competition is yet to catch up with the actual negotiation and design of free trade agreements. This volume will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners who want to gain a holistic understanding of contemporary trade negotiations.

Johan Adriaensen is Assistant Professor at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. His research focuses on institutional politics and EU trade policy. He is the author of National Administrations in EU trade policy (Palgrave, 2016).

Evgeny Postnikov is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published on trade and sustainable development in leading journals and is author of Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements (2020).

Introduction.-Part I. Negotiating trade amidst geo-economic turbulence.- Chapter 1. China growing assertiveness and its implications for EU trade policy in the region.-Chapter 2. US mercantilism and its implications for EU trade policy in the region.-Chapter 3. The changing nature of trade policy, global supply chains and EU-Asia relations.-Part II. Designing trade agreements to withstand turbulent times.-Chapter 4. Most Favoured Nation.-Chapter 5. Rules of Origin.-Chapter 6. Intellectual Property Rights.- Chapter 7. Regulatory cooperation.-Chapter 8. Sustainable development.-Section III: Parallel negotiations and overlapping agreements.-Chapter 9. EU Trade relations with Korea.-Chapter 10. EU Trade relations with Australia.- Chapter 11. EU Trade relations with Singapore.-Chapter 12. EU Trade relations with Vietnam.-Chapter 13. EU Trade relations with Indonesia.-Conclusion.