The European Identity Rationale in the EU Free Trade Agreements: Economic rather than Cultural Objectives?

  • Maria Chochorelou International University of Catalunia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp227-249
Keywords: Free Trade Agreements, cultural exception, audiovisual sector, cultural identity

Abstract

In recent years, we can observe an increase of the EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) addressing cultural matters. The focus of the Union seems to lie on the audiovisual services sector, which is excluded by the scope of all these Agreements. This so-called ‘cultural exception’ clause does not apply to other cultural sectors, which are however still regulated in EU FTAs. The regulation takes the form of either commitments and reservations made by the Parties to a specific sector, or cooperative provisions mainly found in the Protocols of Cultural Cooperation supplementing some EU FTAs. Although not explicitly mentioning culture, other EU FTA Chapters, such as Subsidies and Intellectual Property, also entail cultural considerations. Rhetorically, the EU has considered the inclusion of cultural aspects into its FTAs as a tool to protect and promote the European identity and cultural diversity. However, both the negotiations as well as the texts of these Agreements illustrate that the motives behind this exclusion are mainly economic and political.

Received: 02 July 2018
Accepted: 16 July 2018
Published online: 27 February 2019

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Author Biography

Maria Chochorelou, International University of Catalunia
Maria Chochorelou is a PhD Candidate of Public International Law at the UIC and a researcher in the Charlemagne Institute of European Studies. Her PhD focuses on the Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions of the new-generation Free Trade and International Investment Agreements. She graduated from the law school of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2013. In 2014 she earned her LL.M. in Public International and European Law with specialization in Trade and Investment from the University of Amsterdam. She worked as an intern in the UN Commission on International Trade Law and she is a member of the Athens Bar Association.
Published
2019-02-27
How to Cite
Chochorelou, Maria. 2019. “The European Identity Rationale in the EU Free Trade Agreements: Economic Rather Than Cultural Objectives?”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 02 (February), 227-49. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp227-249.
Issue
No. 02 (2019): SPECIAL ISSUE. European identity: roots and scope
Section
Monographic Articles. Scope of European identity. PART 3: «European identity: international projection»

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