Regionalism in the WTO and the Legal Status of a Development Agenda in the EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreement

Regionalism in the WTO and the Legal Status of a Development Agenda in the EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreement PDF Author: Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
The proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) which share similar ideals with the World Trade Organization (WTO) has added to claims of disintegration within international trade law. Notwithstanding the ambiguity surrounding the reading of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV on RTAs, WTO Members are continuously negotiating RTAs with objectives which have so far not received universal acceptance under the WTO treaty system. In the context of European Union (EU)-Africa trade relations, the December 2007 EU-Africa summit was expected to be an appropriate venue for leaders from both sides to resolve the controversy surrounding the idea of development-friendly free trade agreements between the contracting parties. But, the summit was wrapped up without achieving any clear answer to this issue. Similarly, at the multilateral level, i.e. the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations, which the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States have sponsored, numerous development-friendly proposals on RTAs stalled since July 2006. Consequently, in view of this controversy, if development concerns can be factored into economic partnership agreements (EPAs), what would be an acceptable threshold for such RTAs to conform to GATT Article XXIV requirements of “substantially all trade” and “reasonable period of time”? This paper discusses the idea of development and WTO compatibility in the context of the EU-Africa Economic Partnership negotiations. In view of the flawed dispute settlement provisions under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), the paper further tries to answer the question of whether the CPA contains rights and obligations that need protection by individual EU member courts and may necessarily be enforced before the European Court of Justice. The paper ends with some thoughts on the post-EPAs adjustment programme.

Regionalism in the WTO and the Legal Status of a Development Agenda in the EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreement

Regionalism in the WTO and the Legal Status of a Development Agenda in the EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreement PDF Author: Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description
The proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) which share similar ideals with the World Trade Organization (WTO) has added to claims of disintegration within international trade law. Notwithstanding the ambiguity surrounding the reading of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV on RTAs, WTO Members are continuously negotiating RTAs with objectives which have so far not received universal acceptance under the WTO treaty system. In the context of European Union (EU)-Africa trade relations, the December 2007 EU-Africa summit was expected to be an appropriate venue for leaders from both sides to resolve the controversy surrounding the idea of development-friendly free trade agreements between the contracting parties. But, the summit was wrapped up without achieving any clear answer to this issue. Similarly, at the multilateral level, i.e. the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations, which the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States have sponsored, numerous development-friendly proposals on RTAs stalled since July 2006. Consequently, in view of this controversy, if development concerns can be factored into economic partnership agreements (EPAs), what would be an acceptable threshold for such RTAs to conform to GATT Article XXIV requirements of “substantially all trade” and “reasonable period of time”? This paper discusses the idea of development and WTO compatibility in the context of the EU-Africa Economic Partnership negotiations. In view of the flawed dispute settlement provisions under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), the paper further tries to answer the question of whether the CPA contains rights and obligations that need protection by individual EU member courts and may necessarily be enforced before the European Court of Justice. The paper ends with some thoughts on the post-EPAs adjustment programme.

North-South Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes

North-South Regional Trade Agreements as Legal Regimes PDF Author: Clair Gammage
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1784719625
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
This book offers a critical reflection of the North-South regional trade agreements (RTAs), known as the Economic Partnership Agreements, negotiated between the EU and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. Conceiving of regions as legal regimes, Clair Gammage highlights the challenges facing developing countries when negotiating RTAs with developed countries and interrogates the assumption that these agreements will and can promote sustainable development through trade.

Re-Thinking Reciprocity

Re-Thinking Reciprocity PDF Author: Lorand Bartels
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between the European Union and its African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partners represent the most significant free trade agreement negotiations between developed and developing countries to date, and hold valuable lessons for the ongoing review of WTO rules on development aspects of regional trade agreements. These negotiations, which have proceeded on the basis of existing WTO rules, serve neither trade nor development objectives. The central reason for this is that existing WTO rules - principally Article XXIV GATT - have a 'tariff bias' in which only liberalization in goods is taken into account in determining the legality of a regional trade agreement. Based on an analysis of the development and trade issues in the EPA negotiation process, this paper proposes a new view of measuring RTA liberalization in which account is also taken of a broader set of economic interests - including services, aid-for-trade and trade facilitation. This paper also demonstrates that such an understanding of regional trade liberalization does not conflict with the original purpose of Article XXIV, even if there is a need for some reform of this provision to bring it up to date. The paper concludes with a series of legal options that reflect this outcome, ranging from a re-interpretation of existing RTA disciplines to formal reform.

The EU and World Regionalism

The EU and World Regionalism PDF Author: Michael Schulz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317033493
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Much has been said about the driving forces of region-building processes or regionalization worldwide, yet few systematic and comparative studies have been conducted on how regions can contribute to the building of other regions - and more concretely, how the European Union has 'pushed' for regionalization worldwide. This comparative book investigates the impact that the EU has on regionalization elsewhere through its inter-regional relations. Covering agriculture, trade, ASEAN, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and Commonwealth amongst other topics, it investigates whether the EU contributes directly, as well as indirectly, to increased regional integration in different parts of the world.

The EU as a Global Player

The EU as a Global Player PDF Author: Fredrik Soderbaum
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317997808
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
A new look at the European Union's role as a global actor, with special focus on the theme of interregionalism in its relations with key regions around the world: Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Central-Eastern Europe. This new collection clearly shows how, since the end of the Cold War, the European Union has gradually expanded its external relations and foreign policies and become a global actor in world politics. During the last decade interregionalism has become a key component of the EU’s external relations and foreign policies. In fact, the EU has quickly become the hub of a large number of interregional arrangements with a number of regions around the world. Promoting regional and interregional relations not only justifies and enhances the EU’s own existence and efficiency as a global ‘player’, the strategy also promotes the legitimacy and status of other regions, giving rise to a deepening of cross-cutting interregional relations in trade and economic relations, political dialogue, development cooperation, cultural relations and security cooperation. This book was previously published as a special issue of the leading Journal of European Integration.

The Trade-Development Nexus in the European Union

The Trade-Development Nexus in the European Union PDF Author: Maurizio Carbone
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317596919
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
This volume offers new perspectives on the evolution of the trade–development nexus in the European Union against dramatic changes in the international context. Without disregarding them, it seeks to go beyond the controversial and extensively researched Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). In particular, it focuses on the reform of the Generalised System of Preferences, the negotiation of various Preferential Trade Agreements, the application of trade sanctions, the allegedly ambitious agendas on decent work, Aid for Trade and aid untying, and the implications of the changing balance of power in global economic relations. Taking diverse approaches and, at times, reaching different conclusions, contributors directly or indirectly address one or more of the three general themes of the book: differentiation, coherence, and norms. This book was published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.

Multilateralism Or Regionalism?

Multilateralism Or Regionalism? PDF Author: Guido Glania
Publisher: CEPS
ISBN: 9290796030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
This new book highlights the multifaceted effects of regional trade agreements and outlines the strategic options for EU trade policy. It points out what is new about this most recent phase of regionalism and analyzes the effects on economic welfare and trade transaction costs. The authors draw upon elements of game theory to explore a self-reinforcing mechanism that is resulting in a potentially damaging race for markets. They focus in particular on the multiple impacts of regionalism on the WTO and the multilateral trading order. The book arrives at an opportune time, as the Doha Round is reaching a critical phase.

EU Development Cooperation

EU Development Cooperation PDF Author: Karin Arts
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719062988
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
The authors of this text assess why EU development policy has become largely ineffective, citing as reasons the liberalization of trade and the growing influence of US and international players such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund upon EU policy.

EU Regional Trade Agreements

EU Regional Trade Agreements PDF Author: Maryna Rabinovych
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000374793
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
This book unveils the potential of utilizing EU Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) as an instrument of promoting the rule of law to third states. In doing so, the book combines development economics, foreign policy and legal perspectives at three levels of analysis of four sectors to introduce the concept of "EU value-promoting RTAs". The book demonstrates that the EU RTAs bear considerable potential to be strategized as instruments of promoting the rule of law in third states, requiring, however, overcoming strict divides between EU political and economic cooperation, and values and acquis conditionality in its relations with third countries. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Studies, European Union Law, EU external action/foreign policy, EU trade agreements and Development Studies, as well as to NGOs and think tanks that work on European affairs.

Power in North-South Trade Negotiations

Power in North-South Trade Negotiations PDF Author: Peg Murray-Evans
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351588869
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Advancing a constructivist conceptual approach, this book explains the surprising outcome of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (the ACP countries). Despite the EU’s huge market power, it had limited success with the EPAs; an outcome that confounds materialist narratives equating trade power with market size. Why was the EU unable to fully realise its prospectus for trade and regulatory liberalisation through the EPA negotiations? Emphasising the role of social legitimacy in asymmetrical North–South trade negotiations, Murray-Evans sets the EPAs within the broader context of an institutionally complex global trade regime and stresses the agency of both weak and strong actors in contesting trade rules and practices across multilateral, regional and bilateral negotiating settings. Empirical chapters approach the EPA process from different institutional angles to explain and map the genesis, design, promotion and ultimately limited impact of the EU’s ambitious prospectus for the EPAs. This volume will be particularly relevant to students and scholars of international trade and development and the EU as an international actor, as well as those researching international political economy, African politics and international trade law.