Beyond Geopolitics – The Case for a Free Trade Accord between Europe and Taiwan
This paper discusses the economics and geopolitics of EU Taiwan commercial relations and weighs the case for a free trade agreement (FTA) between them. There is a widespread belief that China will oppose an EU-Taiwan FTA. The recent cross-Straits rapprochement, recently crowned by a trade agreement, could provide a window for Taiwan to sign trade deals with other partners. An FTA with Taiwan would boost some of Europe’s most competitive sectors in ICT, automotives, pharmaceutical products, and telecommunications, financial, business, transport and environmental services. Taiwan needs to position itself as a production platform for global markets. Taiwan is member of the World Trade Organisation - legal obstacles to an EU Taiwan FTA are minimal. But China needs to be reassured that the agreement does not involve recognition of Taiwan’s formal statehood. (Click here)
In FocusThe Case Against Europe's 2020 Strategy The European Union’s 2020 strategy for growth and competitiveness is deeply flawed, argues Fredrik Erixon in this new Policy Brief. It will push neither economic growth nor pro-growth reforms. At the heart of the strategy is an erroneous notion that Europe is such a unified economy that a central strategy works for all countries. Furthermore, it lives and breathes the sort of pop internationalism that presents economic success in other parts of the world as a threat. There is no point toying with marginal changes of the strategy. It should be put in the bin, and EU leaders should start afresh.
A Future for the World Trade Organization? With the Doha Round stalling and the free trade agenda at sleep, what will be the future of the World Trade Organization? Recently, ECIPE hosted its Jan Tumlir Lecture with Peter Sutherland, former Director General of the WTO, former EU Commissioner. Not only did he analyse the various factors that have lead to Doha’s current stalemate, he also highlighted the systemic consequences of not finishing Doha on what works well at the WTO, namely its dispute settlement mechanism. “In the final analysis members of the WTO must do deals – make new commitments – if the system is to remain relevant and fully operational”. His speech builds on a series of events and publications ECIPE has dedicated to the state of the world trading system.
A Replay of the 1970s The global economic crisis, and governments’ responses to the crisis, did not precipitate a descent into 1930s-style protectionism. That is a relief. But, argues Fredrik Erixon and Razeen Sally in a new paper, it provides no refuge from policy measures that will slow down globalisation and growth in the next decade. “Creeping protectionism” is increasing, and the crisis has reinforced trends visible before the start of the crisis. New patterns of protectionism are similar to developments in the 1970s and 1980s rather than the 1930s. Domestic “crisis interventions”, especially in capital and product mar kets, and the return of Big Government, will spill over to external policy, with more defensive trade policies and fragmented capital markets as consequences.
Why did Anti-dumping Reform Fail? Few trade issues are as politically charged as anti-dumping policy. A few years ago the European Commission launched an effort to reform Europe’s use of trade defense policies, but it failed to deliver as the opposition grew too big. In a new paper, Dirk De Bièvre and Jappe Eckhardt examine the reasons for failure and conclude that lobbies in favour of status quo were better at forming a collective resistance than pro-reform lobbies were at organizing groups in favour of reforms.
The Elusive Quest for Asian Economic Integration What will happen to regional economic integration in Asia? In a new paper, Razeen Sally takes stock of recent trade-policy initiatives in the Asian region and outlines recommendations for future regional and global integration in Asia. Sally argues that recent talk of region-wide FTAs, and east-Asian initiatives on financial and monetary cooperation, are too ambitious and remain grand visions. Rather, future regional and global integration depends on renewed unilateral, non-discrim inatory liberalization, this time going beyond border barriers to tackle behind-the-border regulatory barriers.
|
Latest Publications
ECIPE Occasional Paper No. 03/2010
ECIPE Policy Brief No. 01/2010
ECIPE Working Paper No. 3/2010
ECIPE Working Paper No. 2/2010
ECIPE Occasional Paper No. 2/2010 Articles, Opinion and Commentary
2010-07-27
2010-07-07
2010-07-15
2010-07-01
2010-06-28
2010-06-24
2010-06-17
2010-06-10
2010-06-03
2010-05-20
2010-05-10
2010-05-10
2010-05-06
2010-05-06 |