L'Afrique du Sud, l'Union européenne et la Convention de Lomé : du bilatéralisme au néo-régionalisme ? (Note)

Economic and financial relations between the European Union and « new » South Africa were characterized by a rapid process 0} normalization following the general elections of27 April 1994. Much more problematic has been the process of negotiating a long term relationship which should result in the implementation of a Eu-South Africa free trade area over a ten year transition period, and a qualified membership of South Africa in the Lome Convention. The analysis 0} current negotiations reveals how the parties' mutual concern for the World Trade Organisation principles is constantly tempered by their equally strong commitment to Systems of regional preferences. At a time when the future of the Lome Convention has become a matter of official discussion by the EU and the ACP states, the revival of regional integration programmes in Southern Africa confers to the negotiations between the EU and South Africa a special value. Indeed, they prefigure as a test on the capacity to integrate the realities of new trade regionalism in euro-African relations

Europe-Afrique : des acteurs en quête de scénarios

With the marginalization of Africa in international trade, previous models for operationalizing relations with Europe have become obsolete. There is increasingly a trend towards uncoupling between North Africa, the Republic of South Africa, and Black Africa. North Africa has broken away to the point of regarding itself as a hinterland of Europe. South Africa is likely to become both a crossroads and a transit point in trade between Europe, Africa, and the Pacific region. In Black Africa, the only current scenarios for reconnection with the rest of the world seem to amount to pointing out this subregion's capability to do harm if it were ever abandoned

Nigeria's "manifest destiny" in West Africa: dominance without power

"Ever since independence, messianic references to a natural Nigerian leadership in the affairs of the African continent have been ingrained in the conduct of Nigeria's foreign policy. Internationally, Nigeria's endowments of human and natural resources, deeply asymmetrical interactions with neighboring states and the active engagement of successive regimes in the affairs of the continent have called for the country's treatment as a regional power and a pivotal state for West Africa. However, Nigeria's 'manifest destiny' remains more about influence than power. The country's unsteady projection of structural or relational power starkly contrasts with the deep regional imprint left by trans-frontier networks that focus on Nigeria but operate independently of territorial affiliations. The related regionalization process exacerbates the fluidity and fragility of region-building as much as problems of statehood and governance within Nigeria." (author's abstract

Europe Within the World of Regionalisms

The surge of diversified forms of regionalism and regional integration within the past few decades has stimulated the reappraisal of the conceptual tools traditionally designed to bench-mark and monitor region-building processes across the world. More recently, the Brexit negotiations have become a reminder that the EU remains an unfolding experience. This article argues that the study of African regionalisms constitutes a timely invitation to revisit the experience of the EU and its contribution to the world of regionalisms. After a brief survey of the classic definition of the region, we will discuss the ongoing relevance of European integration and the implications of the analytical distinction between regionalism, regionalisation and regional integration, before drawing from the study of Africa five threads which set the basis for a comparative study of regions and regionalisms beyond the classic emphasis on the EU or the world of regions

Consumer preferences and last mile pricing in the postal sector

The paper analyzes consumer preferences towards a potential two-part tariff in the postal sector. Based on the empirical results we analyze the welfare effects of a two-part tariff when applied in the Swiss letter market.Pricing, Two-part tariff, Universal Service, Receiver Pays Principle, Consumer Preferences