scholarly journals The Pursuit of Non-Trade Policy Objectives in EU Trade Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Ingo Borchert ◽  
Paola Conconi ◽  
Mattia Di Ubaldo ◽  
Cristina Herghelegiu
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
Generalized System ◽  
Generalized System Of Preferences ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Limited Scope ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Union (EU) often conditions preferential access to its market on compliance with Non-Trade Policy Objectives (NTPOs), including human rights and labor and environmental standards. In this paper, we first systematically document the coverage of NTPOs across the main tools of EU trade policy: its (association and non-association) trade agreements and Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programs. We then discuss the extent to which the EU can use these tools as a ‘carrot-and-stick’ mechanism to promote NTPOs in trading partners. We argue that, within trade agreements, the EU has limited scope to extend or restrict tariff preferences to ‘reward good behavior’ or ‘punish bad behavior’ on NTPOs, partly because multilateral rules require members to eliminate tariffs on substantially all trade. By contrast, GSP preferences are granted on a unilateral basis, and can thus more easily be extended or limited, depending on compliance with NTPOs. Our analysis also suggests that the commercial interests of the EU inhibit the full pursuit of NTPOs in its trade agreements and GSP programs.

scholarly journals A gravity approach of agricultural trade: The nexus of the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 11) ◽  
pp. 509-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiás Maté Balogh ◽  
Nuno Carlos Leitão
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Industry Trade ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is one of the biggest traders of agricultural products. In 2017, extra-EU agricultural trade accounted for 7.4% of the total EU international trade. Furthermore, Europe is the main destination for agricultural goods arriving from African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) trading partners. The paper analyses the effect of geographical proximity, cultural similarity, free trade agreements on bilateral agricultural trade as well as intra-industry trade between EU member states and its trading partners (intra and extra EU trade), employing gravity model for a period of 1996–2017. Regression results suggest that EU countries export more agricultural products to their common markets. In addition, the export costs of agricultural products are lower if the EU and its external trading partners are culturally similar; have the same religion or both have regional trade agreements. We found a moderate intra-industry trade between the EU and ACP countries at 18%. The results indicate rather inter-industry trade between EU and non-EU members, with a lower index level for ACP countries. A higher positive impact is revealed on the agricultural import between ACP-EU countries than export.

scholarly journals Dispute Resolution That Divides: The EU-USA Conflict on Investment-State Dispute Resolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
Judit Glavanits ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Trade Agreements ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Eu

Investment-state dispute resolution has been a hot topic recently, as we can observe a shift in the international trade agreements – both on the side of politics and economics. The European Union has started to negotiate several new trade agreements – some succeeded, some failed, and among the latter we find the TTIP with the USA. This article focuses on the neuralgic point of ISDS in the trade policy of the EU and the USA and summarizes the arguments for and against the ISDS mechanism reflecting also on the latest scientific literature and statistics.

Subsidies Regulation Beyond the WTO

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Borlini
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Negative Function ◽  
Public Aid ◽  
The Eu

An increasingly important aspect of EU trade policy since the lifting of its self-imposed moratorium on preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has been the inclusion of WTO+ provisions on subsidies in bilateral agreements negotiated with a number of third countries. This article covers the main bilateral PTAs negotiated after the publication of the Commission’s Communication on ‘Global Europe’ in order to explore the implications of the different subsidy disciplines they set out. It also discusses the questions that arise when examining the legal discipline of public aid provided by such agreements, regarding not only the substantive appropriateness of standards and rules on compatibility, but also the procedural mechanisms designed to guarantee the implementation and the enforcement of such rules. It concludes that the most advanced among the EU PTAs are shaped as competition regulation and go beyond a mere negative function, ensuring that subsidies can contribute to fundamental public goals.

scholarly journals EU Trade Agreements and Non-Trade Policy Objectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Ferrari ◽  
Matteo Fiorini ◽  
Joseph Francois ◽  
Bernard Hoekman ◽  
Lisa Maria Lechner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Policy Objectives

scholarly journals Accommodating Divergent Policy Objectives under WTO Law: Reflections on EC—Seal Products

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 308-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Y. Qin
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Domestic Regulation ◽  
The Eu

EC—Seal Products raises an important issue in World Trade Organization (WTO) law: How can WTO trea-ties be interpreted to accommodate divergent legitimate purposes of a domestic regulation? The European Union (EU) measure at issue is a ban on the placing of seal products on the EU market, coupled with excep-tions3 for seal products produced by Inuit and other indigenous communities (IC exception), and for seal products obtained from seals hunted for the purpose of marine resource management and sold on a nonprofit basis (MRM exception). The seal ban was imposed out of the public concern over the cruel manner in which seals are hunted and killed, whereas the IC exception was made to protect the traditional lifestyle of indigenous peoples and the MRM exception accommodated theneed for sustainable management of marine resources. The EU regulation, therefore, was designed to achieve divergent policy objectives. The exceptions derogate from the ban because they permit hunting and killing of seals which can cause the very pain andsuffering for seals that concerns the EU public.

Efficiency Analysis of Turkey's Transportation System Using Decision Support Model

2016 ◽  
pp. 61-92
Author(s):  
Adnan Sozen ◽  
Fatih Cipil
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Malmquist Index ◽  
Efficiency Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Railway Transportation ◽  
Decision Support Model ◽  
Decision Support Models ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Eu

Since the European Union has certain targets and criteria that must be fulfilled by its members, Turkey's situation in transportation compared to the EU member countries (23 countries whose data were accessed) was examined through the approaches of decision support models (Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index). This study investigates whether Turkey utilizes its road, airway and railway transportation indicators efficiently or not within the framework of the European Union (EU) accession process. In addition, it aims to demonstrate Turkey's current position compared to other EU countries by performing relative efficiency analysis on road, airway and railway transportation indicators. The conclusions of this study will help policymakers to determine Turkey's policy objectives for its integration to the EU in terms of transportation indicators.

scholarly journals Czech foreign agricultural trade after joining the European Union

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 583-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Bašek ◽  
J. Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Trade Deficit ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Territorial Structure ◽  
The Eu

The objective of the paper is to assess how the Czech agricultural sector has withstood keen competition in the EU single market as measured by the basic indicators of foreign trade exchange. The impacts expressed by the indicators of active and/or adverse balance of trade were monitored for the post-accession period (the average of the years 2005–2007) in comparison with the pre-accession period (the average of the years 2001–2003). The assessment of the impacts of the accession to the EU is based on an analysis of the commodity and territorial structure of Czech agricultural foreign trade. The comparison of agricultural balance before and after the accession to the EU for our major trading partners shows that the active balance of the CR with Slovakia increased to 12.0 billion CZK per year; on the contrary, in relation to Poland, the trade deficit of 6.4 billion CZK per year was recorded while Germany strengthened its position in relation to the CR by an increase in the negative balance to 5.4 billion CZK and in relation to Austria, our adverse balance is maintained at the level of 1.1 to 1.2 billion CZK per year for a long time. After the accession to the EU, it was confirmed that the former EU 15 countries took a greater advantage of the customs union enlargement in the framework of the EU 27.

Making Sense of U.S. Trade Policy: What Recent Negotiations Can Tell Us

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 378-380
Author(s):  
Inu Manak
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The North ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
The U.S

U.S. trade policy is not what it used to be. Since the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership in January 2017, Indo-Pacific trade relations have been in constant flux. It is not clear where U.S. trade policy will end up, particularly with regard to its relationship with China. However, the conclusion of two renegotiations of previous U.S. trade agreements can tell us generally about the new U.S. approach and what this means for our trading partners. I will discuss developments from the renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS) and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Excessive pricing in the pharmaceutical industry: adding another string to the bow of EU competition law

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Diletta Danieli
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Health Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Competition Law ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The paper addresses the issue of excessive price abuse under Article 102(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), by drawing inspiration from a recent stream of cases (developed first at the national and then at the EU level) involving pharmaceutical companies marketing off-patent drugs. In particular, the two ‘most advanced’ cases are analysed: Aspen in Italy and Pfizer/Flynn in the United Kingdom. This new-found attention towards exploitative practices in the form of excessive and unfair pricing by dominant undertakings that have traditionally been subject to a cautious antitrust scrutiny seems worth exploring for a number of reasons, as illustrated in the paper. Ultimately, it is argued that this further ‘interference’ of competition law into the realms of regulation may be actually justified, albeit subject to precise conditions for enforcement, and may pursue policy objectives in the wider context of EU health law.

Australian Trade Agreements – A Divergence between Trade Policy and Business Outcomes – Can They Deliver Trade-related Growth for Australia?

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-255
Author(s):  
Bruno Zeller ◽  
Bill Cole
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Trade Negotiation ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Business Outcomes ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Partnership Agreement

The recently negotiated Japan Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (jaepa) is the latest in a series of trade agreements that seek to create a trading environment for Australian firms delivering outcomes similar to those anticipated under the wto multilateral model. However, the gains to business and the economy from this approach to trade policy have been particular to specific economic sectors and have generally not resulted in significant broad based economic benefits. In particular, the negotiation of trade agreements by Australia has been characterised by the reduction of trade-in-goods barriers (tariffs etc) which have assisted some agricultural and resource activities and compromised value adding, high employment sectors of the economy such as manufacturing. In contrast, Australian trading partners have increasingly sought concessions relating to Foreign Direct Investment (fdi), allowing their businesses to vertically integrate productive activity. The apparent disconnection between Australian trade policy outcomes and the requirements of business and the broader economy stem from failures at both the fundamental level of policy creation and the negotiation and implementation of the agreements. This paper argues that Australian trade policy needs to develop a new, more flexible and responsive model of trade negotiation in order to better serve the economy and its businesses.

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