A. Introduction

This course is aimed at providing a broad overview (yet not exhaustive) of the three pillars making up the external trade policy of the European Union (EU): customs policy, trade policy and investment policy. The course is “not exhaustive” to the extent that this is one of the most important policy fields of the EU, which is constantly and rapidly changing. It is made of a lot of very different subject-matters, wherefore it is simply impossible to provide all information within one course. Nonetheless, this course does provide extensive information (in the script or through further readings and links) on the broad lines of policy in these three areas of external trade law allowing for a better understanding of the multi-faceted external trade policy of the EU. Therefore, it is useful to first of all understand what the notion of European external trade law actually means, before going in depth into the substantive provisions contained in the Treaties, international agreements of the EU with third states and secondary legislation but also international trade law as established through the multilateral framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as discussed throughout the units to come. Next to this it is likewise useful to know how to use the various sources of EU law containing information on the EU’s external trade policy. Accordingly, the second part of this unit provides a broad overview on how to research EU law documents making the navigation through this subject easier.