IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v5y2017i3p29-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Access to Documents to Consumption of Information: The European Commission Transparency Policy for the TTIP Negotiations

Author

Listed:
  • Evelyn Coremans

    (Leuven International and European Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

To increase transparency of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, the European Commission has reformed existing information sharing systems for trade policy. The Commission has moved from a strategy of providing transparency in the form of access to documents to one of access to information, geared specifically towards enhancing consumption of the available information. In both public and institutional transparency policy, the width of the target audience and the depth of the information have increased, and the manner of provision has shifted from reactive to proactive provision of information. As a result, the TTIP is now being coined as the most transparent trade negotiation ever in the EU’s history and a pilot project for transparency policy in future trade negotiations. The article adopts a supply-centred perspective to explain a transparency policy that goes beyond the legal minimum imposed by formal requirements. It relies on interview data of the changes brought about in inter-institutional relations since 2014, basic quantitative and qualitative analysis of document material, and a five-month participatory observation by the author in the secretariat of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Evelyn Coremans, 2017. "From Access to Documents to Consumption of Information: The European Commission Transparency Policy for the TTIP Negotiations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 29-39.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:5:y:2017:i:3:p:29-39
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/1022
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vigjilenca Abazi & Johan Adriaensen, 2017. "Allies in Transparency? Parliamentary, Judicial and Administrative Interplays in the EU’s International Negotiations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 75-86.
    2. Ripoll Servent, Ariadna and Amy Busby, 2013. "Introduction: Agency and influence inside the EU institutions," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 17, July.
    3. Eibauer, Josef, 2012. "Blessing or curse? The effects of transparency on the European Commission's success at the international ACTA negotiations," PIPE - Papers on International Political Economy 14/2012, Free University Berlin, Center for International Political Economy.
    4. James P Cross & Jørgen Bølstad, 2015. "Openness and censorship in the European Union: An interrupted time series analysis," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(2), pages 216-240, June.
    5. David Kleimann, 2011. "Taking Stock: EU Common Commercial Policy in the Lisbon Era," Aussenwirtschaft, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economics Research, vol. 66(2), pages 211-257, June.
    6. Guri Rosén & Anne Elizabeth Stie, 2017. "Not Worth the Net Worth? The Democratic Dilemmas of Privileged Access to Information," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 51-61.
    7. Niels Gheyle & Ferdi De Ville, 2017. "How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 16-28.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maarten Hillebrandt, 2017. "Transparency as a Platform for Institutional Politics: The Case of the Council of the European Union," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 62-74.
    2. Vigjilenca Abazi & Johan Adriaensen, 2017. "Allies in Transparency? Parliamentary, Judicial and Administrative Interplays in the EU’s International Negotiations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 75-86.
    3. William Dinan, 2021. "Lobbying Transparency: The Limits of EU Monitory Democracy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 237-247.
    4. Axel Marx & Guillaume Van der Loo, 2021. "Transparency in EU Trade Policy: A Comprehensive Assessment of Current Achievements," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 261-271.
    5. Guri Rosén & Anne Elizabeth Stie, 2017. "Not Worth the Net Worth? The Democratic Dilemmas of Privileged Access to Information," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 51-61.
    6. Niels Gheyle & Ferdi De Ville, 2017. "How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 16-28.
    7. Vigjilenca Abazi & Johan Adriaensen, 2017. "EU Institutional Politics of Secrecy and Transparency in Foreign Affairs," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 1-5.
    8. Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, 2020. "Parliamentary Influence Ten Years after Lisbon: EU Trade Negotiations with Japan," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1540-1557, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vigjilenca Abazi & Johan Adriaensen, 2017. "EU Institutional Politics of Secrecy and Transparency in Foreign Affairs," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 1-5.
    2. Maarten Hillebrandt, 2017. "Transparency as a Platform for Institutional Politics: The Case of the Council of the European Union," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 62-74.
    3. Christine Neuhold & Andreea Năstase, 2017. "Transparency Watchdog: Guarding the Law and Independent from Politics? The Relationship between the European Ombudsman and the European Parliament," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 40-50.
    4. Axel Marx & Guillaume Van der Loo, 2021. "Transparency in EU Trade Policy: A Comprehensive Assessment of Current Achievements," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 261-271.
    5. Daniel Naurin, 2017. "The Puzzle of Transparency Reforms in the Council of the EU," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 87-90.
    6. Päivi Leino, 2017. "Secrecy, Efficiency, Transparency in EU Negotiations: Conflicting Paradigms?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 6-15.
    7. Guri Rosén & Anne Elizabeth Stie, 2017. "Not Worth the Net Worth? The Democratic Dilemmas of Privileged Access to Information," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 51-61.
    8. Christine Hackenesch & Julian Bergmann & Jan Orbie, 2021. "Development Policy under Fire? The Politicization of European External Relations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 3-19, January.
    9. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Trade Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 7-18.
    10. Patricia Garcia-Duran & Leif Johan Eliasson & Oriol Costa, 2020. "Managed Globalization 2.0: The European Commission’s Response to Trade Politicization," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 290-300.
    11. Anke Moerland & Clara Weinhardt, 2020. "Politicisation ‘Reversed’: EU Free Trade Negotiations with West Africa and the Caribbean," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 266-276.
    12. Marie Peffenköver & Johan Adriaensen, 2021. "Detecting Looming Vetoes: Getting the European Parliament’s Consent in Trade Agreements," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 74-84.
    13. Niels Gheyle, 2022. "Evading Vetoes: Exiting the Politicized Decision Trap in EU Trade Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(6), pages 1723-1740, November.
    14. Niels Gheyle & Ferdi De Ville, 2017. "How Much Is Enough? Explaining the Continuous Transparency Conflict in TTIP," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 16-28.
    15. Vigjilenca Abazi & Johan Adriaensen, 2017. "Allies in Transparency? Parliamentary, Judicial and Administrative Interplays in the EU’s International Negotiations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(3), pages 75-86.
    16. William Dinan, 2021. "Lobbying Transparency: The Limits of EU Monitory Democracy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 237-247.
    17. van Schalkwyk, May C.I. & Barlow, Pepita & Siles-Brügge, Gabriel & Jarman, Holly & Hervey, Tamara & McKee, Martin, 2021. "Brexit and trade policy: an analysis of the governance of UK trade policy and what it means for health and social justice," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110261, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Thomas Jacobs & Niels Gheyle & Ferdi De Ville & Jan Orbie, 2023. "The Hegemonic Politics of ‘Strategic Autonomy’ and ‘Resilience’: COVID‐19 and the Dislocation of EU Trade Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 3-19, January.
    19. Katharina Luise Meissner, 2019. "Brexit under Scrutiny in EU Member States: What Role for National Parliaments in Austria and Germany?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 279-290.
    20. Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén, 2020. "Parliamentary Influence Ten Years after Lisbon: EU Trade Negotiations with Japan," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1540-1557, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v:5:y:2017:i:3:p:29-39. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.