Document Actions

Archived news

Globalisation and Economic Growth in China

In a new Series on Economic Development and Growth, ECIPE Director Razeen Sally and other experts discuss the effects of globalisation on China's growth prospects and of China's growth on the wider economy. Razeen Sally participates with a chapter about China's Trade Policies in Wider Asian Perspective.

Read more and apply

New Jan Tumlir Policy Essay - Assessing the EC Trade Policy in Goods

The recent shift in European trade policy to bilateral agreements is taking Europe into dangerous waters. It is not only a risk of creating a “spaghetti bowl” of bilaterals. All the bilateral agreements envisaged by the EC may turn into a system of “electron colliders”: the bilaterals are so many that they clash against each other. Europe should reorient its trade strategy in accordance with its multilateral ambitions and table realistic proposals for the Doha Round.

Read the essay

European Union Policy towards Free Trade Agreements

The European Union has recently shifted to a trade policy that envisages a greater use of Free Trade Agreements. At the moment the EU is working on a number of FTA initiatives with Central America, ASEAN, India and is negotiation an FTA with South Korea. In a new ECIPE Working Paper, Dr. Stephen Woolcock discusses the motivations for the shift towards a more active use of FTAs and whether the EU can reconcile this greater emphasis on bilateral FTAs with its commitment to multilateralism in trade.

Rome Treaty at 50

The Rome Treaty celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In a recent ECIPE Policy Brief Fredrik Erixon, Andreas Freytag and Gernot Pehnelt assess the role of the Rome Treaty theme of closer economic integration in a wider context of globalisation and the world economy.

Razeen Sally contributed with a chapter - "Europe in the world: Trade and globalisation" - in a new book European Union: the Next Fifty Years to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. In his chapter Dr. Sally suggests a new European Transparency Board with statutory powers to scrutinize EU regulations.

Portugal's EU Presidency

Portugal has launched a promising programme for its EU Presidency. EU-Africa relations will be at the centre and Peter Draper has recently given an overview of the faltering EPA negotiations between the two continents. It is crunch time for the review of EU’s Trade Defence Instruments, which Brian Hindley commented in a recent Policy Brief. Portugal has set out to revive the Lisbon Agenda, but Fredrik Erixon argues in a new article that this agenda would not yield much growth unless it streamlines policies and is expanded.

EU-Asia Trade Negotiations

The European Union has recently started negotiations with Korea about a new Free Trade Agreement and will soon embark on FTA negotiations with India and the ASEAN countries. Razeen Sally analyses trade policy in Asia in an ECIPE Policy Brief and assesses regional integration in Asia in an ECIPE Working Paper.

EU China Economic Relations

China is now Europe’s second trading partner. It is a tremendous opportunity for European investors and services. Yet commercial and political relations are tense. Protectionist sentiment is rising. Contentious issues run deep into domestic regulation on both sides. The EU wants to sign a partnership and cooperation agreement with China. Patrick Messerlin, at a recent ECIPE conference offered a fresh look at the reality of China: a new market almost the size of EU is taking shape. Razeen Sally in his latest paper explores ways of promoting EU-China cooperation outside formal trade negotiations.

The Future of the Doha Round

WTO countries did not agree on a Doha Round package before the expiry of the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority in the end of June. What should happen now? In a recent ECIPE paper, Patrick Messerlin argued for a remodeling of the Doha ambitions along the lines of "modest but clean". Razeen Sally gives a broad stock take of the problems of the Doha Round in the World Economics Journal and suggests a Nike strategy for trade liberalization in a recent paper.

Looking East: The European Union’s New Trade Negotiations in Asia

Europe has now joined the bandwagon of bilateral trade agreements in Asia. Ambitions are strong, yet the negotiations are fraught with problems. Also, the EU rhetoric on China gets shriller and the EU is putting at risk the efforts to form a strong trade and regulatory partnership with China.

In a new paper ECIPE Director Razeen Sally takes stock of current negotiations, EU policies towards China, and outlines a new strategy for better economic integration between Europe and Asia.

The G8 and the World Economy

In early June G8 leaders met Heiligendamm for its annual summit. In a recent Policy Brief, Fredrik Erixon and Andreas Freytag analyse the German agenda for its G-8 Presidency and discuss German policies for the world economy. Erixon and Freytag discuss the leitmotif of the summit agenda in an article for Frankfurter Allgemein Zeitung (only in German) and discuss G-8 policy coordination in articles for the Europe's World and Internationale Politik.

In advance of the G-8 Summit, ECIPE co-hosted a Berlin Roundtable Meeting with the G8 Research Group, University of Toronto, and the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

World Economy Challenges for 2008

The World Economic Forum gathered in Davos in the shadow of the global credit crunch. Crucial topics were the global economy, innovation and the shifting power equations of the world. Fredrik Erixon recently analysed innovation and emerging trade patterns in the world. Razeen Sally has set out a new structure for further trade integration with Asia; “China bashing” is certainly not the way forward. Gernot Pehnelt says globalisation has pushed down inflation and Meir Pugatch benchmarks approaches to intellectual property rights in trade agreements.

Inflation in times of globalisation

Inflation is looming again in the world economy. But we are far away from the dramatic inflation rates witnessed in the 1970s and until the early 1980s, when the current wave of globalization took off. In a recent paper, ECIPE Fellow Gernot Pehnelt shows that rising economic integration in OECD role played a significant role in bringing inflation rates down between 1980 and 2005. Can further international integration help stem current inflationary pressures?

Ways Forward for the Multilateral Trading System

The Warwick Commission published its report on "The Multilateral Trading System: Which Way Forward?" It says that consensus should no longer be a deal breaker in the World Trade Organization. ECIPE Senior Fellow Pierre Sauvé is member of the Commission. Similar conclusions are being drawn by other ECIPE scholars, such as highlighted in a recent panel at the World Trade Organization .

ECIPE Wins “Best New Think Tank Award”

ECIPE was awarded the “Best New Think Tank” award by the Stockholm Network at a recent ceremony in London. The Stockholm Network is a leading pan-European think tank. It offers a unique network of 130 think tanks across Europe providing access to high-level European policy thinking.

Kazakhstan’s Revealed Comparative Advantage Vis-À-Vis the EU-27

Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s biggest economy, and planning to join the World Trade Organization. More than four-fifths of its exports are hydrocarbons, and most of these go to the European Union. In his new working paper, Arastou Khatibi examines Kazakhstan’s competitiveness vis-à-vis world exports to the EU-27 and intra-exports between the EU-27 member countries. The analysis reveals that although Kazakhstan shows a revealed comparative advantage in a number of non-commodity sectors, its comparative advantage has been deteriorating in almost all these sectors.

Developing Countries in the World Trading System

Developing countries have increasingly geared up their participation in the world economy and trade policy. Roderick Abbott explores developing country participation in the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism. Michael Finger takes stock of proposals on trade facilitation in the WTO negotiations. Razeen Sally calls for a rebalancing of trade policies in Asia. Peter Draper outlines the important issues in EU-Africa trade relations.

Kazakhstan’s Accession to the WTO: A Quantitive Assessment

In light of Kazakhstan’s interest to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), ECIPE Research Associate Arastou Khatibi ' s new Working Paper investigates the impact of the WTO accession on trade flows by using a standard gravity model. Khatibi argues that accession to the WTO involves a short run benefit from further reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and a long-term strategy that involves institutional reforms. The results indicate that, although Kazakhstan’s trade policy with its major partners is well in place, it still has weak market institutions, and gains from accession to the WTO will work best with complementary institutional reforms.

Kazakhstan and the World Economy: An Assessment of Kazakhstan’s Trade Policy and Pending Accession to the WTO

Kazakhstan has been negotiating accession to the WTO for twelve years, following a line of ex-Soviet states seeking membership. In this new, comprehensive study Brian Hindley presents a detailed analysis of Kazakhstan’s long accession process. WTO membership is a matter of economic strategy. For Kazakhstan though, legitimate geopolitical concerns have come into play as Russia has pushed for deepened regional economic integration while neglecting its own accession negotiations. But, Kazakhstan’s strategy of global economic integration would be better served by WTO membership than the regional alternative. Greater support from big WTO players such as the EU and the US could help the Kazakh government to accelerate accession without waiting for Russia.

So Alike and Yet so Different: A Comparison of the Uruguay Round and the Doha Round

As the first multilateral trade round to be conducted under the auspices of the WTO, the Doha Round is beginning to appear as protracted, complicated and politically controversial as the last round under the GATT – the Uruguay Round. In this essay Peter Kleen undertakes a substantive comparison of the Uruguay Round and the Doha Round, drawing insights and lessons for any future efforts to liberalize trade within the WTO. Covering the initiation and evolution, and the major players, he concludes that negotiating trade agreements must remain the raison d’être of the WTO.

Developing Countries, Globalization and Economic Reform

The momentum for economic openness has slowed down not only in developed but also in developing countries. In a recent paper Razeen Sally reminds us that “external liberalisation, as part of broad market-based reforms, has worked: countries that have become more open to the world economy have grown faster and become richer than those that have opened up less or remained closed. In a recent speech, Sally gave an overview of current trade and investment policies in the world’s largest emerging economies.

That Chinese “juggernaut” – should Europe really worry about its trade deficit with China?

China’s exchange-rate policy has been under attack in the last years, especially in the United States. Now the critique of Beijing’s policy is coming from Europe as well. In a new Policy Brief, Professor Andreas Freytag discusses EU-China trade relations in the context of China’s exchange-rate policy. Freytag scrutinizes the assumptions underlying the link between China’s exchange-rate policy and Europe’s rising bilateral deficit. Freytag finds this link tenuous, and argues that a bilateral deficit cannot prima facie be viewed as a problem when the overall current account of Europe largely is in balance.

An EU-China trade dialogue: a new policy framework to contain deteriorating trade relations

EU-China trade and economic relations have deteriorated. The rhetoric has become tougher on both sides. Increasingly hostile rhetoric and the danger of tit-for-tat protectionism are reason enough to establish a new process for bilateral trade relations. This Policy Brief assesses the opportunities to improve the souring economic relations between Europe and China offered by a new initiative to solve commercial problems and negotiate deeper integration: the EU-China High Level Trade and Economic Dialogue. The format of this dialogue is due to be announced in Beijing on the 24th of April 2008. In their paper, Iana Dreyer and Fredrik Erixon draw conclusions from a parallel US China Strategic Economic Dialogue launched in 2006. They analyse the risks and constraints under which the new EU-China Dialogue will operate.

EU-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.

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.

As part of our Ask the Expert series, Peter Kleen was asked three questions on how Doha could move forward. Find out more here.

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.

European Trade Policy - Getting the Priorities Right with China

With the launch of the High Level Trade and Economic Dialogue, are EU policies towards China going in the right direction? Patrick Messerlin and Jinghui Wang argue that these policies need to be redesigned with focus on market openings that bring real long-term economic benefits and could draw support from interest groups within China. Along with Andreas Freytag , they also argue that the current obsession with the bilateral trade deficit is misguided, and is rather a matter of macroeconomic policy. The Dialogue mechanism itself could end up being an empty talkfest if the constraints and agenda are not set right, argue Iana Dreyer and Fredrik Erixon.

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.
A recent conference with the Kazakh government, the Commission and researchers from ECIPE and the Silk Road Studies Program discussed the hot economic, political and geopolitical issues surrounding Kazakhstan’s WTO accession.

Mounting calls for trade in healthcare

On both sides of the Atlantic, calls to free up trade in healthcare are mounting. The rising cost of health services and the crisis of healthcare systems in the developed and developing world provide a window of opportunity to consider alternative and cost-effective ways to cater for the rising needs of patients. Fredrik Erixon just made the case in the Financial Times, while Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Sandi Madan recently made similar suggestions in the Wall Street Journal (an unabridged version of their article is available here ). ECIPE is running a big project researching trade in healthcare, and a first paper by Fredrik Erixon and Lucy Davis has just been published. Erixon and Davis conceptualizes approaches to trade in health care and set out an agenda for reform.

EU trade policy making without the Lisbon treaty

The institutional developments foreseen in EU trade policy-making by the Lisbon treaty will not enter into force. EU trade policy will remain fragmented. Investment policies in particular will remain with the member states after all. The European Parliament will have to wait to have full powers of co-decision. Discussions on both democratic accountability and risks of excessive politicization due to the Parliament’s rising powers can now be discarded. In its relations to China, for instance, the EU’s institutional complexity will complicate the task of smoothing trade relations, as shown by Fredrik Erixon and Iana Dreyer. The EU’s comparative weakness in IPR policies in its trade agreements such as discussed by Meir Pugatch will also continue.

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.

Agriculture in the Doha Round

Amid soaring food prices, the Doha trade negotiations in the WTO are again in the limelight. Patrick Messerlin not only reminds us that the EU’s current tariff protections benefit food processing industries rather than farmers. He also proposes a smart formula to move forward in bringing agricultural tariffs down. Peter Kleen, in his recent analysis of the Doha Round, rues the absence of a strong “Café au Lait” type of coalition between outward-oriented rich and developing countries such as existed in the Uruguay Round. Such a coalition could cut trough the “iron triangle” – agricultural tariffs in Europe, agricultural subsidies in the United States and industrial tariffs in big developing countries - that blocks the current multilateral negotiations.

New Policy Brief: The Health of Nations: Conceptualizing Approaches to Trade in Health Care

Economic and trade integration have progressed over the last fifty years and yet one sector remains conspicuously un-globalized – health care. In this new policy brief, Lucy Davis and Fredrik Erixon examine the opposition to trade in health care and suggest ways of moving forward, expanding on the potential that it could bring to this beleaguered sector. Countries as diverse as Brazil, China, Cuba, India and South Africa are already significant exporters of health care. Patients in developed and developing countries stand to gain from lower health costs, increased efficiency and better quality of service.