"The European Community and Japan: Bi(tri)lateral Trade in World Context"

This paper first examines the institutional context of EC trade policy and assesses the real level of protection that policy has afforded. It then examines the question of how "common" the policy has in fact been and how it has related to competition policy, devoting a special section to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The next two sections discuss crucial issues in the trilateral relationship between the EC, Japan, and the US by focusing on the manufacturing sectors of electronics and cars. In shifting the perspective towards the future this paper focuses first on the concept of "strategic trade policy" and then at the special issues raised by the reform process that "1992 has brought, if it has, in Eastern Europe. The paper ends by posing two fundamental and interrelated questions. Has "1992" brought the European Community closer to the rest of the world? And what is the future position of Europe in the international division of labor