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The EC Common Commercial Policy (CCP) : its application to the external commercial relations in maritime transport services

The EC Common Commercial Policy (CCP) : its application to the external commercial relations in maritime transport services
The EC Common Commercial Policy (CCP) : its application to the external commercial relations in maritime transport services

Following world trade developments, the Community was compelled to take steps to bring new trends to this concept. This involves bringing the trend 'trade in services' to the CCP umbrella and consequently, the provision of maritime transport services. In this, the conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) raised questions that the incomplete concept of the CCP was not ready to answer. A question that immediately comes to mind is: can 'trade in services' and in particular, maritime transport services be encompassed in the realm of the CCP's concept? As a result, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was asked to answer whether the Community had competence to sign the "Final Act" which includes GATS. In deciding to exclude from the realm of the CCP the entire transport sector, regardless of the mode of supply used to provide these transport services, the ECJ disregarded concepts within the meaning of the GATS agreement and moreover, strengthened the lacuna created by the absence of a coordinated and integrated external commercial policy for maritime transport services.

This thesis explores the inseparable relation between trade and shipping within the context of the European Community with the aim to prove that a common external commercial policy in maritime transport services which is not effective and coherent with its overall external commercial policy is detrimental to the interests of the Community at bilateral and global levels. This thesis seeks to demonstrate how the Community deals with the world in external commercial terms as well as with regard to maritime transport services. In this, it concentrates on the practice of the Member States shown by the conclusion of FCN Treaties where commerce and navigation were generally considered to form a part of their whole commercial policy. It emphasizes that it is the precise commercial nature of the subject matter of these agreements that should bring them to the umbrella of the CCP, if not only for legal reasons but for commercial and tactical purposes as well. By analyzing the jurisprudence on Article 113 EC, this thesis attempts to show evidence that the dynamic nature of the concept of commercial policy should encompass commercial aspects of shipping policy to the benefit of Community trade. Eventually, taking into consideration the answer of the ECJ to the question of Community competence for signing the "Final Act" as to the exclusion of commercial aspects of transport from the scope of the CCP, this work proposes new ground for further elaboration of a framework for the Community external commercial relations in maritime transport services which for so long have been neglected. This thesis intends to provide some contribution to the prosperity of the Community external commercial relations in maritime transport services, not as an argument to strengthen the Community fleet to the detriment of third countries' fleets, but as a contribution to freer seas, 'mare liberum' as proposed by Hugo Grotius. (DX 191, 320).

University of Southampton
Della Croce, Maria Clara Pirani
Della Croce, Maria Clara Pirani

Della Croce, Maria Clara Pirani (1995) The EC Common Commercial Policy (CCP) : its application to the external commercial relations in maritime transport services. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Following world trade developments, the Community was compelled to take steps to bring new trends to this concept. This involves bringing the trend 'trade in services' to the CCP umbrella and consequently, the provision of maritime transport services. In this, the conclusion of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) raised questions that the incomplete concept of the CCP was not ready to answer. A question that immediately comes to mind is: can 'trade in services' and in particular, maritime transport services be encompassed in the realm of the CCP's concept? As a result, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) was asked to answer whether the Community had competence to sign the "Final Act" which includes GATS. In deciding to exclude from the realm of the CCP the entire transport sector, regardless of the mode of supply used to provide these transport services, the ECJ disregarded concepts within the meaning of the GATS agreement and moreover, strengthened the lacuna created by the absence of a coordinated and integrated external commercial policy for maritime transport services.

This thesis explores the inseparable relation between trade and shipping within the context of the European Community with the aim to prove that a common external commercial policy in maritime transport services which is not effective and coherent with its overall external commercial policy is detrimental to the interests of the Community at bilateral and global levels. This thesis seeks to demonstrate how the Community deals with the world in external commercial terms as well as with regard to maritime transport services. In this, it concentrates on the practice of the Member States shown by the conclusion of FCN Treaties where commerce and navigation were generally considered to form a part of their whole commercial policy. It emphasizes that it is the precise commercial nature of the subject matter of these agreements that should bring them to the umbrella of the CCP, if not only for legal reasons but for commercial and tactical purposes as well. By analyzing the jurisprudence on Article 113 EC, this thesis attempts to show evidence that the dynamic nature of the concept of commercial policy should encompass commercial aspects of shipping policy to the benefit of Community trade. Eventually, taking into consideration the answer of the ECJ to the question of Community competence for signing the "Final Act" as to the exclusion of commercial aspects of transport from the scope of the CCP, this work proposes new ground for further elaboration of a framework for the Community external commercial relations in maritime transport services which for so long have been neglected. This thesis intends to provide some contribution to the prosperity of the Community external commercial relations in maritime transport services, not as an argument to strengthen the Community fleet to the detriment of third countries' fleets, but as a contribution to freer seas, 'mare liberum' as proposed by Hugo Grotius. (DX 191, 320).

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Published date: 1995

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 459358
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/459358
PURE UUID: df0e37bf-0dfc-4a96-8e7b-699aca0b60b4

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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 17:09
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 17:09

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Contributors

Author: Maria Clara Pirani Della Croce

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