New Parliament power may complicate EU trade policy

The way the EU draws up its trade policy baffles many outsiders and it is about to get more complicated when new powers are granted to the European Parliament.

The Lisbon Treaty - designed to make the workings of the 27-nation bloc more efficient - is expected to come into effect next year, giving the legislature binding powers for the first time to approve or reject new trade deals. It will also hand lawmakers a decision-making role on other aspects of the EU's common policy, potentially opening a new battlefield in the continent's fight between free traders and states and industries that seek more protection from imports.

"It's going to make things much more complicated," said Fredrik Erixon, a director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, a Brussels-based think-tank. Many members of the European Parliament itself are concerned about what is going to happen," he said. A senior Brussels lobbyist forecast a greater politicisation of trade issues that are now largely handled by European Commission technocrats and lawyers.

"Trade policy is going to be a lot higher-profile and more directly political as members of the European Parliament get their hands on one of the EU's main levers of power," said Rory Macrae, a partner at public affairs company GPlus Europe.

The EU is the world's largest trading bloc and accounts for about 20 per cent of all global trade, meaning deals formed in the meeting rooms of Brussels have an impact around the planet.

European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson briefs Parliament several times a year but the assembly has almost no legislative powers on trade policy.

Mr Mandelson's main focus among the EU institutions, for now, is on the council of European governments.