Regional Trade Arrangements and Economies in Transition: The Central Asian Countries

When it dissolved in 1991, the members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) contained half a billion people (Table 1) - more than either the European Union or NAFTA today - and these countries were largely insulated from the market-driven international economy. This paper analyses the progress of the reintegration of the formerly centrally planned economies into the global trading system, focusing on the relationship between multilateral processes and regional integration schemes, and taking the Central Asian countries as a case study. Almost all the countries in transition from central planning have accepted the WTO rulebased system in principle, and the potential danger of regionalism proving more attractive than multilateralism has not eventuated.trade agreements, post-Soviet economies, Central Asia

Economic and Political Results of the Russian Federation WTO Membership: Assessment on the Base of International Organizations Theories

In the article some international organizations theories predictions are examined on the results of Russia’s accession to the WTO. Import indicators have improved after accession: import diversification has grown and import concentration has reduced. There was no influence on export as the first ten export positions of the Russian Federation are raw materials. The payment matrix of a game with nonzero sum has been applied to the analysis of anti-dumping measures in bilateral trade with China, Ukraine and the EU. The strategy «to join the WTO» was shown to be optimal for Russia. The strategy «to admit Russia to the WTO» was optimal for the EU and Ukraine, but not for the China. We don’t confirm the argument that the trade agreement is directed to protectionism restriction as the number of anti-dumping measures in mutual trade of the Russian Federation has grownafter the WTOaccession. The advanced countries, as it was shown, keep a high difference in access of certain goods to the markets. It has a sense to estimate extent of liberalization according to an indicator of import concentration. From this point of view, market access provided by Russia was higher than in the advanced economies since 2005. Countries do can carry out liberalization unilaterally. E.D. Mansfield and E.E. Reinhardt have shown that the country as a member of the regional trade agreement improves its bargaining power. This conclusion in our work has been extended to a case of the country participation in the WTO. It was shown that the trade regime of the Russian Federation hasn’t suffered after 2014. At the same time taking into account the effect of «improvement of a bargaining power», which was revealed in literature for the stage of the regional trade agreement, the EEU is offered to include in its agenda territorial development and transport tariffs matters

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance –: A Restricted Cold War Actor

Der Artikel behandelt eine Frage, die in der bisherigen Literatur über die Geschichte des RGW vernachlässigt wurde: Inwiefern betrieb diese Internationale Organisation eine eigene Außen(handels)politik? Tatsächlich gab es vor allem Anfang der 970er Jahre im RGW Versuche, die Politik seiner Mitgliedsstaaten gegenüber der „nichtsozialistischen Welt“, insbesondere der Europäischen Gemeinschaft, zu koordinieren, was aber letztlich erfolglos blieb. Der Anstoß dazu kam von den Fortschritten der EG, die ab 970 ihre gemeinsame Handelspolitik umsetzen wollte. Dem RGW ging es nicht darum, die Strukturen der EG zu kopieren, sondern den durch die EG-Politik behinderten Zugang seiner Mitglieder zum gemeinsamen Markt zu erleichtern. Der Aufsatz macht deutlich, dass die sozialistischen Staaten den RGW in erster Linie als Instrument zur Durchsetzung ihrer eigenen Ziele und Interessen ansahen. Die Debatte im RGW über die Politik gegenüber der EG zeigt auch, wie begrenzt die Macht der Sowjetunion im so genannten Ostblock war. Nach den Statuten des RGW konnten Entscheidungen nur einstimmig gefasst werden. Deshalb waren die kleineren Staaten in der Lage, Versuche der UdSSR, den RGW von einer zwischenstaatlichen in eine supranationale Organisation umzuwandeln, zu blockieren. Andererseits bewirkte das Einstimmigkeitsprinzip auch, dass der RGW nicht ohne Zustimmung der Sowjetunion agieren konnte. Außerdem war die sowjetische Wirtschaftsmacht für die kleineren RGW-Staaten in möglichen Verhandlungen mit der EG sehr wertvoll. Vor allem deshalb akzeptierten die anderen RGW-Mitgliedsstaaten die führende Rolle der Sowjetunion in der EG-Politik.This article analyses one aspect of CMEA history, which has been neglected in prior literature: its policy-making in the ield of external trade politics. The CMEA attempted – unsuccessfully – to coordinate a common policy vis-à-vis the outside world, particularly the European Community, at the turn of the 970s. The impetus for this came from the progress achieved by the EC, which was planning to implement a Common Commercial Policy starting from 970. The CMEA did not endeavour to copy EC development, but to assist its members’ access to the Common Market that would be hindered once the EC policy was implemented. Based on the indings of this study, the CMEA should be seen as an instrument that all members used to advance their particular aims and interests. The CMEA debate on its policy towards the EC shows the limits of Soviet power within the organisation and towards its smaller allies: due to the organization’s decision-making principles, and more importantly, because the member states could resist it, the USSR was not able to override the intergovernmental CMEA. Nonetheless, due to the unanimity rule, the CMEA could not act without Soviet consent. Importantly, Soviet economic power was valuable for the small allies in possible negotiations with the EC. Therefore, to secure Soviet participation, the East Europeans accepted the Soviet leading role in the EC policymaking

Recasting the history and politics of European integration ‘beyond Brussels’

History and International Relation

A critical analysis of the legal relationship between the EC and the WTO in the area of agriculture

This thesis focuses on the evolving legal dynamic between the European Community and the World Trade Organisation in the area of Agriculture.The WTO's Agreement on Agriculture does not exist in isolation, but interacts with many of the balance of the Annex 1A agreements, which are attached to the Agreement Establishing the WTO. In addition the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the agreement on Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) both have their part to play in the global trade of agricultural commodities. The provisions of these agreements and their associated dispute settlement rulings are having an increasingly profound impact on the EC's Common Agricultural Policy, and its allied policy areas, such as the Common Customs Policy, its Generalised System of Preferences, and its Development Policy relationships, in particular with the Afro-CaribbeanPacific countries. The nexus between these two evolving legal jurisdictions, is mediated through the EC's Common Commercial Policy, with this relationship having been subject of its own line ofjurisprudence at the ECJ. Each of these factors in the dynamic between these two levels of governance on the legal framework dealing with agriculture are examined in turn, with the relationship to date being critically analysed, with potential developments for the future being forecasted.The reaction of the EC to this external force, with the adoption of the concept of the multifunctionality of EC agriculture, which has been added to an equally legally challenging concept of sustainability, has resulted in the development of Pillar II of the CAP, which presages the emergence of a new EC Rural Policy. A number of the emerging ideas from within the EC which might be applied to such a new EC Rural Policy are also examined. To the extent that the 10 synergy between these two legal systems dealing with agriculture are affected by allied policy considerations, such as health and consumer affairs, competition law and environmental standards, these other areas are also discussed.The thesis has as its focus agricultural commodities generally, which are the subject matter of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, (therein classified as HS 1-24, less fish and fish products), but where the thesis does focus on specific commodities, these are agricultural commodities of the temperate regions of the EC

Markets in the Making. State of Play

En los inicios de un siglo marcado por una creciente interdependencia económica, el sistema mundial de comercio tiene un impacto general en nuestras sociedades. Equilibrar mercados abiertos con una arquitectura de gobernanza global más fuerte y coherente es un prerrequisito para la sostenibilidad social. Tomando esta perspectiva, Markets in the Making enmarca las poderosas dinámicas regulatorias del sistema mundial de comercio con sus luces y sombras, asumiendo en todo caso su contribución al desarrollo, la sociabilidad y la paz. En su conjunto, el libro analiza un conjunto de disciplinas de la OMC seleccionadas, explorando sus racionalidades internas, y los valores y visiones de mundo que legalizan. Para ello, los casos de estudio se centran en los siguientes asuntos: la progresiva construcción de un sistema experto de derecho internacional (capítulo 2 sobre reglas), la difuminación del interés general y especial en la elaboración de tratados (capítulo 3 sobre servicios), el enlace de la protección de los intangibles (propiedad intelectual) y el comercio (capítulo 4 sobre el conocimiento), la desconexión entre el comercio y métodos y procesos de producción (capítulo 5 sobre la naturaleza), la transformación de la actividad estatal en un nicho de mercado (capítulo 6 sobre contratación pública) y la mercantilización global de cosas y actividades, como bienes y servicios (capítulo 7 sobre cultura).At the beginning of a century marked by increasing economic interdependence, the world trading system is a critical fabric which has a bearing on our societies. Building cohesive architectures within global governance, and thus balancing open markets with a stronger global polity, is a prerequisite for enhancing social sustainability. Taking this policy perspective, Markets in the Making frames the powerful regulatory dynamics of the world trading system as its stands today, with all its lights and shadows, notwithstanding its great contribution to development, sociability and peace. As a whole, the book takes a measured look at WTO disciplines, exploring its legalized values, inner rationalities and world vision. In doing so, the selected case studies focus on the following issues: the progressive construction of an expert system of international law (chapter 2 on rules), the blurring of general and special interest in treaty-making (chapter 3 on services), the linkage of propertized intangibles to trade (chapter 4 on knowledge), the delinking of trade law from process and production methods (chapter 5 on nature), the transformation of state tasks into market niches (chapter 6 on procurement) and the structural commoditization of things and activities, as goods and services (chapter 7 on culture)

The political economy of contemporary regional integration: Evidence and interpretation.

This research takes a rigorous approach to examining available data for signs of regional integration and interprets the findings in terms of their illustration of the changing structure of the international political economy. A range of methodologies are examined and the inadequacies of various commonly-used approaches to measure regionalisation are discussed. Bearing this in mind, statistical measures of regional bias are developed, and time series of results are displayed to show trends in the three major economic areas over the past three decades in a way that has not been attempted in other studies. The findings suggest that regional integration has been advancing steadily in North America and Europe and there are suggestions that preferential trading arrangements have helped to promote closer regional integration. Surprisingly, the preferential bias between the founder members of the European Union is little changed in the past three decades. In the developed world the non-discriminatory qualities of some of the deeper aspects of regionalism have helped to blunt its preferential impact, as have corporate organisational strategies, which are also important in shaping regional production. The impact of preferential regional arrangements on internalisation of corporate transactions is ambiguous. It is argued that multinational corporations are less concerned about whether liberalisation is regional or multilateral than is commonly assumed. This makes the "building block-stumbling block" debate less important than the question of whether barriers to cross-border business are declining. Taking the analysis down to the micro level highlights the complex relationship between trade and investment flows which is not captured in theoretical literature or the available statistics. Although economics can explain the attractiveness of regional agreements, political economy explanations are useful to explain its growing popularity. One neglected issue is the benefit resulting from lower systemic risk. A more accurate description of the structural change identified in this research is that of "regional globalisation", where the prime concern of multinational corporations is that of globalisation, but it is a trend which is currently manifested through regional organisation. This is not a fixed trend and could be superseded by sub-or supra-regional integration depending on technical change and political co-operation

An Examination of Some Legal Problems Relating to International Trade in Agricultural Products: A Critique of the Evolving International Agricultural Trade Regime of Developing Countries under the Auspices of the GATT, by Particular Reference to Uruguay Round Trade Negotiations

This study critically examines the legal aspects of the agricultural trade performance of developing countries in GATT Multilateral Trade Negotiations. Following an introductory Chapter outlining the general background of trade in agricultural products and defining the main elements of the thesis, Chapter Two focuses on an analysis of the substantive agricultural trade provisions within the GATT. It also argues that GATT rules in farm trade are generally weaker than those which apply to other sectors, and thus warrant strengthening. The third Chapter examines the trade achievements of developing countries in seven consecutive multilateral rounds of trade negotiations under the auspices and contractual rights and obligations of the GATT. It considers the reality of many sectors of particular interest to developing countries such as agriculture, textiles, clothing and footwear, which have been subjected to 'exceptional' treatment. The Chapter gives a chronological examination of the evolving agricultural trade regime of developing countries after World War II, up to the Uruguay Round negotiations. Chapter Four embodies the basic argument of the thesis by analysing two different perspectives of developing and industrial countries in the system. It argues that, despite the inclusion of Part IV to the GATT in favour of developing countries and the application of special and preferential treatment, these countries have been the main victims of disarray in the agricultural trading system. Their efforts to increase export earnings in the context of the existing GATT framework are shown to have been hampered or undermined by strong protectionist measures of industrial countries. The strong need for developing countries to receive permanent special and preferential treatment in their exports to industrial countries is outlined as is their demand to be more integrated into the trading system. It argues that the new waves of bilateralism and regionalism by industrial countries, even under the umbrella of Article XXIV, has negated impacts on the principles and practice of multilateralism. An ever-growing number of bilateral trade- arrangements have been agreed outside the framework of GATT, to the detriment of weaker trading partners. Serious trade conflicts and high budgetary costs were experienced by industrial countries in the agricultural sector in the 1980s and that, combined with the growing recognition that farm programmes were not working effectively, convinced governments to establish a fair and market-oriented trading system. The fifth Chapter analyses the status of agricultural trade in the final Uruguay Round negotiations and investigates the conflict that arose as a consequence of the increasing protection afforded to the agricultural sector within nearly all industrial countries. It indicates that in the UR there were signs of change. The developing states tried to use the external trading environment as a vehicle to speed their development. It is why a number of these countries were actively involved in the launch and decision making process of the UR and its outcomes. The final Chapter seeks an optimal trade perspective to benefit all contracting parties by analysing the positive moves toward a global consensus in the entire history of GATT negotiations. The final remarks also identify the conclusions of the thesis. This suggests that it is time that industrial countries recognise the increased participation of their developing partners. Consideration should be given to economic, political and social concerns, such as food security, environmental protection and overall employment, which can build an equitable international trading environment that every country could get its fair share of the market. It also concludes that despite achievements in liberalizing trade in many sectors, the overall international trading environment, and especially the agricultural sector, warrants a substantial improvement redressed in favour of developing countries