Redesigning the European Union’s trade policy strategy towards China
The European Union’s recent trade-policy strategy towards China is ineffective and shortsighted. It focuses on bilateral market access and involves a strong U S-style confrontational stance. A redesign of the EU’s trade policy strategy is needed. In this paper, Europe’s leading trade scholar Patrick Messerlin and Jinghui Wang call for foresightedness in the European Union’s policies towards China. It reviews the EU’s strategy and proposes concrete policy options that will allow it to more effectively promote its commercial interests in China, by focusing on topics that will draw support from Chinese interests and bring greater economic benefits for both parties. Messerlin and Wang conclude by looking at the EU trade policy towards China in a truly global context and calls for the involvement of the U S, Japan and, most important, medium-sized economies as key partners.
In focusEU-China Economic Relations The EU and China launched a High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue to smoothen commercial and economic relations amid escalating political and economic tensions. Fredrik Erixon and Iana Dreyer discuss how to avoid the potential pitfalls of the proposed Dialogue. Patrick Messerlin and Jinhui Wang propose ways forward for the EU to reach a “small” as well as a “grand” bargain with China in future negotiations. Andreas Freytag undoes frequent assumptions on the EU's soaring commercial deficit with China.
Razeen Sally’s New Book Razeen Sally’s new book, Trade Policy, New Century: The WTO, FTAs and Asia
Rising, has just been published by the Institute of Economic Affairs in
London. It covers the intellectual history of free trade versus protection;
trade-policy reforms in developing countries; the WTO; FTAs; and unilateral
liberalization in emerging Asia. Dr Sally argues that the WTO and FTAs have
outdated negotiating models for 21st-century business and consumer realities.
FTAs in particular risk creating new barriers rather than removing existing
ones. Top-down negotiation-driven trade policy is yielding diminishing returns.
The priority should be bottom-up unilateral liberalization, with China´s
opening to the world economy leading the way.
Kazakhstan in the world trading system Despite its strategic significance, Central Asia has not received much attention in trade policy. ECIPE has recently undertaken comprehensive research on Kazakhstan, a key country in the region that is aspiring to join the WTO. Brian Hindley's publication gives an in-depth analysis of Kazakhtstan’s economic integration in the world economy. Arastou Khatibi calculated the benefits of Kazakhstan’s WTO accession and its comparative advantage vis-à-vis the EU.
Ways forward for the Doha Round? The Doha Round is still in a rut. Reform fatigue is pervasive and does not support the process. Peter Kleen, by comparing the Doha Round with the Uruguay Round explores potential ways out of the stalemate. Patrick Messerlin proposed alternatives solutions for Europe’s offer in agriculture and explained how narrowing majorities in the world’s major democracies make decision-making in trade policies more difficult.
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Latest publications
Joint ECIPE-GEM Working Paper No. 4/2008
ECIPE Briefing Paper No. 3/2008
ECIPE Briefing Paper No. 2/2008
ECIPE Jan Tumlir Essay No. 02/2008 Upcoming events
2008-05-22 ECIPE in the Media
2008-04-17
2008-03-27
2008-03-10
2008-03-07
2008-01-21 |