'Issue-systems', 'multi-level games' and the analysis of the EU's external commercial and associated policies: a research agenda

This article considers how a particular combination of existing conceptual or heuristic approaches drawn from international relations theory-the 'issue-systems' framework and an adapted 'two-level game' model- might be brought to the empirical investigation of the European Union (EU) as an international actor and, more specifically, to the analysis of the policy-making and governance processes that shape and define the EU's external commercial and associated policies. It is proposed that the use of these frameworks in the analysis of the EU's external policy processes might provide a basis for tackling some of the broader questions concerning the nature and significance of the EU as a governance system and international actor in the world economic and political arena.