scholarly journals POLITICAL ECONOMY OF TRADE WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION: SOUTH AFRICA’S PURSUIT OF NARROW SELF-INTEREST

Author(s):  
Oscar Van Heerden

In the years between 1995 and 2008 South Africa was engaged in trade negotiations with the European Union (EU), which were seen as platform for addressing the trade imbalances in favour of the EU. In 2002, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed between South Africa and the EU. Despite its membership to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), South Africa engaged on the negotiations on its own which led to trade and political tensions with other countries within the community. By going alone South Africa was clearly indicating an appetite to vigorously pursue its interests at the expense of regional partners. It is argued that the exclusion, at an early stage of the negotiations, of other regional countries within SADC was counterproductive and had the potential to harm the regional trade relations. In addition, the change of approach at later stage that brought in the regional approach to the negotiations improved the regional trade relations within SADC.

Author(s):  
Panagiotis Delimatsis

Secrecy and informality rather than transparency traditionally reign trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels. Yet, transparency ranks among the most basic desiderata in the grammar of global governance and has been regarded as positively related to legitimacy. In the EU’s case, transparent trade diplomacy is quintessential for constitutional—but also for broader political—reasons. First, even if trade matters fall within the EU’s exclusive competence, the EU executive is bound by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to inform the European Parliament, the EU co-legislator, in regular intervals. Second, transparency at an early stage is important to address public reluctance, suspicion, or even opposition regarding a particular trade deal. This chapter chronicles the quest for and turning moments relating to transparency during the EU trade negotiations with Canada (CETA); the US (TTIP), and various WTO members on services (TiSA).


This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the withdrawal agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union to create the legal framework for Brexit. Building on a prior volume, it overviews the process of Brexit negotiations that took place between the UK and the EU from 2017 to 2019. It also examines the key provisions of the Brexit deal, including the protection of citizens’ rights, the Irish border, and the financial settlement. Moreover, the book assesses the governance provisions on transition, decision-making and adjudication, and the prospects for future EU–UK trade relations. Finally, it reflects on the longer-term challenges that the implementation of the 2016 Brexit referendum poses for the UK territorial system, for British–Irish relations, as well as for the future of the EU beyond Brexit.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rumiana Yotova

ON 16 May 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its Opinion 2/15 concerning the competence of the EU to conclude the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (EUSFTA) (ECLI:EU:C:2017:376). The Opinion was requested by the Commission which argued, with the support of the European Parliament (EP), that the EU had exclusive competence to conclude the EUSFTA. The Council and 25 of the Member States countered that the EUSFTA should be concluded as a mixed agreement – that is, by the EU and each of its members – because some of its provisions fell under the shared competence of the organisation or the competence of the Member States alone.


Author(s):  
Aldona Zawojska

The article is a contribution to the discussion on the anticipated consequences of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union for Poland’s trade relations with this country, with particular emphasis on the likely impacts of a hard or no-deal Brexit on Polish exporters. Its aim is to provide readers with an understanding of how agri-food flows between Poland and the UK (especially Poland’s exports) could be affected once the UK departs the EU. The question is important considering that, in recent years, the UK has been the second biggest importer and a net importer of agricultural and food products from Poland. The study is based on trade data from the UN Comtrade Database and Poland’s Central Statistical Office, and on tariff data from the UK’s Department for International Trade. Taking into account the possible imposition of customs duties announced thus far by the British government on the import of agri-food products from third countries in the event of a no-trade agreement with the EU, the introduction of additional non-tariff barriers, as well as increased transactional (friction) costs and complexity of doing business with foreign partners, a hard Brexit would have serious implications for Poland’s fast growing agri-food exports to the UK. It would even lead to a collapse of some Polish supplies, particularly of meat and dairy commodities, to Great Britain. The loss of two-way preferences in trade now arising from participation in the EU single market will undermine the competitiveness of Polish producers on UK’s market both against British producers and lower cost exporters from outside the EU.


Author(s):  
O. Shnyrkov ◽  
D. Pliushch

The article identifies the volume of underserved markets for the development of Ukraine's foreign trade with the EU. The Ukraine's export potential on the EU underserved market is analyzed. It is established that the intensification of trade relations between the Ukraine and EU is a mutually beneficial process, and export potential of Ukraine in the EU market for goods whose exports to the Russian Federation have decreased is of particular importance. The main foreign markets of Ukraine for the export of agricultural and industrial goods from Ukraine have been identified. The main commodity groups of underserved markets to the EU have been identified, the exports of which to the Russian Federation have decreased the most. According to the results of the study, it has been concluded that the underserved markets of the European Union play an important role in the development of Ukraine's trade: first, they allow reorientation of exports of Ukrainian goods, the import of which is prohibited into the customs territory of the Russian Federation, to EU markets; secondly, they help to identify directions for the modernization of Ukrainian production in accordance with the unmet needs of the European goods market. It is concluded that the process of deepening mutual trade in underserved markets in a free trade area is mutually beneficial for Ukraine and the European Union, as trading partners can benefit from increased trade flows, and establishing international partnership between the parties can bring additional benefits in the long run.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Giselle Bosse ◽  
Moritz Höpner ◽  
Alena Vieira

Abstract In bilateral relations and negotiations with the European Union (EU), smaller and economically weaker states are often unable to express their national preferences. Despite their limited bargaining power, however, some Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries obtained significant concessions from the EU. This article analyzes the factors that explain EaP states’ unexpected negotiation success in the context of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Ukraine, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Armenia, and enhanced economic partnership with Belarus. We identify negotiation strategies that are crucial to understanding of the puzzle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-884
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Weiß ◽  
Cornelia Furculita

Abstract Considering the new focus of the European Union (EU) trade policy on strengthening the enforcement of trade rules, the article presents the proposed amendments to the EU Trade Enforcement Regulation 654/2014. It analyzes the EU Commission proposal and the amendments suggested by the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA), in particular with regard to uncooperative third parties and the provision of immediate countermeasures. The amendments will be assessed in view of their legality under World Trade Organization (WTO), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and general international law and in view of their political implications for the EU’s multilateralist stance. Finally, the opportunity to amend Regulation 654/2014 to use it for the enforcement of FTA trade and sustainable development chapters will be explored. The analysis shows that the shift towards more effective enforcement should be pursued with due care for respecting existing international legal commitments and with more caution to multilateralism.


Author(s):  
Sharon Pardo

Israeli-European Union (EU) relations have consisted of a number of conflicting trends that have resulted in the emergence of a highly problematic and volatile relationship: one characterized by a strong and ever-increasing network of economic, cultural, and personal ties, yet marked, at the political level, by disappointment, bitterness, and anger. On the one hand, Israel has displayed a genuine desire to strengthen its ties with the EU and to be included as part of the European integration project. On the other hand, Israelis are deeply suspicious of the Union’s policies and are untrusting of the Union’s intentions toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the Middle East as a whole. As a result, Israel has been determined to minimize the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process (MEPP), and to deny it any direct involvement in the negotiations with the Palestinians. The article summarizes some key developments in Israeli-European Community (EC)/EU relations since 1957: the Israeli (re)turn to Europe in the late 1950s; EC-Israeli economic and trade relations; the 1980 Venice Declaration and the EC/EU involvement in the MEPP; EU-Israeli relations in a regional/Mediterranean context; the question of Israeli settlements’ products entering free of duty to the European Common Market; EU-Israeli relations in the age of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP); the failed attempt to upgrade EU-Israeli relations between the years 2007 and 2014; and the Union’s prohibition on EU funding to Israeli entities beyond the 1967 borders. By discussing the history of this uneasy relationship, the article further offers insights into how the EU is actually judged as a global-normative actor by Israelis.


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