Diritti umani nella politica commerciale dell'Unione Europea con paesi terzi: il perseguimento di interessi non commerciali nelle negoziazioni con Singapore e Vietnam

The view of the EU as a normative power has gained wide currency in the academic literature, and it seems that the EU may tend to prioritise values-based objectives over more economic interests in its external relations. This thesis has examined the normative dimension of EU foreign trade policy by focusing on the EU trade negotiations with Singapore and Vietnam, in order to verify if there is consistency between the European rhetorical discourses (what the EU ‘says’) and their actual application (what the EU ‘does’). The analysis of both case studies contrasts with the image of the EU as a normative power and shows instead that the EU is continuously squeezed in its foreign relations between its strategic and economic interests on the one side and its values and rules driven approach on the other, particularly regarding human rights. This thesis recognizes the added value of having human rights conditionality and sustainable development chapters within the framework of a trade agreement; however, it identifies some pitfalls in their formulation, constraining their effectiveness. Moreover, by analysing the European institutions’ preferences, it has been shown that it appears difficult to subordinate economic-driven interests to normative ones during a trade negotiation.