The European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its final opinion on Tuesday 16 May regarding the EU-Singapore trade agreement, deeming that while some aspects of the deal’s current version fall within the bloc’s “exclusive competence,” others will require additional approval from national and regional legislatures. The final opinion has been years in the making, and had been highly anticipated given its potential to give clarity regarding the bloc’s treaties, specifically in relation to European trade and investment negotiations abroad. The EU and Singapore concluded negotiations for a free trade agreement (EUSFTA) in December 2012, with related talks on investment being finalised in October 2014. (See Bridges Weekly, 19 December 2012 and 23 October 2014 , respectively) The European Commission started the trade deal negotiations with approval of the Council, while consulting with a Council-appointed panel known as the Trade Policy Committee. Although the EU and Singapore managed to reach a deal, the opinion released this week explains that the European Commission decided to raise the issue with the ECJ “since differences of opinion became apparent in consultations within the Trade Policy Committee on the nature of the European Union’s competence to conclude the envisaged agreement.” In particular, the European Commission...