'Issue-systems', 'multi-level games' and the analysis of the EU's externalcommercial 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 'is sue-systems' framework and an adapted 'two-level game' model - might be bro ught to the empirical investigation of the European Union (EU) as an intern ational 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 i n the analysis of the EU's external policy processes might provide a basis for tackling some of the broader questions concerning the nature and signif icance of the EU as a governance system and international actor in the worl d economic and political arena.