The future of the ACP countries

The record to date of trade and development cooperation between the European Union and the ACP countries has been rather disappointing. Evidently, neither the non-reciprocal trade preferences granted to the ACP countries nor the support for development projects have led to much progress in terms of economic and social development. Can the implementation of the EU's present reform proposals be expected to safeguard the future of the Lome system and of the ACP countries in the new millenium?     

The EC internal market,Lomé IV and the ACP countries

The implications that the internal market could hold for the EC's foreign trade relations are a cause of considerable worry to countries in the Third World. Particularly the ACP countries, for many of whom the EC is their foremost product and import market, fear the possible strengthening of protectionist barriers and a Europe increasingly preoccupied with itself. This article examines the perspectives of EC-ACP trade relations in the light of the Lomé IV agreement.     

The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and the ACP Countries

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) to be negotiated between the European Union and six different ACP regions under the Cotonou Agreement are intended to be in conformity with WTO rules, i.e. satisfy GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V. To what extent is this realistic? What would be the effects on the ACP countries?

---

---

This article summarises the following study: A. Borrmann, H. Gro?mann, and G. Koopmann: The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the ACP States, Study on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn 2005, http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/enwto-epa-acp-2005.pdf.     

Foreign direct investment in Central Europe

Central European governments see foreign direct investment (FDI) as one of the main macroeconomic mechanisms for stabilizing the volatile process of economic and political transition. What are the favorite destinations of FDI in Central Europe? What are the motives of Western investors? Why does the amount of FDI vary so much between countries?     

贸易战还是货币战:论跨境贸易人民币结算

从2009年7月1日,将上海、广州、深圳、珠海和东莞作为跨境贸易人民币结算的境内试点区.港澳地区和东盟国家作为境外试点区到2010年6月以来,境内试点地区已扩大至全国20个省,境外地城扩展到所有国家和地区,跨境交易人民币结算试点业务扩大至所有经常项下.至此,中国也迈上了主权货币国际化之路.那么为什么国家都热衷于推动本国货币成为世界结算货币,进而取得国际货币发行权呢?中国选择的这条路又有着怎样的前景呢?我将从贸易战与货币战的角度来解答.     

EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreements: Impact, Options and Prerequisites

The EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) are presently renegotiating their trade relations. Behind these negotiations are the fundamental conflict between the existing arrangement and multilateral trade rules, the frustration regarding poor ACP trade performance, the ineffectiveness of trade and trade-related ACP policies, and the inefficiency of corresponding EU assistance. This article highlights the fundamentals of the envisaged Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the ACP countries, sums up previous estimates of their probable economic impact, discusses policy options for ACP countries and sheds light on basic prerequisites, particularly on institutional conditions, that should be fulfilled to ensure the success of EPAs.     

Explaining economic performance during transition: What do we know?

While after the collapse of the communist bloc virtually all of its former member countries embarked on market-oriented reforms, the individual countries followed different routes and experienced different outcomes. In all cases, however, output declined steeply during the early years of transition. What were the main causes behind the severe contraction of output? Why have some countries managed to overcome the transformation crisis far better than others?     

The relationship between CMEA and EC

In early 1970 responsibility for the conclusion of trade agreements was transferred from the individual member states to the EC. Since then the EC has been recognized throughout the world as a contractual partner in its own right within this area. Only the Soviet Union and the CMEA are being difficult accepting these changes in responsibility since 1970. This means that in trade between the EC countries and the state trade countries there exists at present a situation without treaties. Where do the problems lie? What models offer themselves for overcoming this situation?     

European integration: West and East

The EC internal market is to be completed by the end of 1992, the creation of a European Economic Space comprising the 18 countries of the EC and EFTA is underway, and the countries of Eastern Europe, above all the USSR, are talking more and more about a “European house” from the Urals to the Atlantic. How much progress has in fact been made so far in this direction? What are the main obstacles, and what developments are to be expected in the medium term?     

Small economy macroeconomics

In recent years, four small European economies—Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands—have attracted attention through their successful employment policies. Why did these countries, which are all typical European welfare states with high levels of social security, high tax rates and low inequality, perform so well? Can they serve as examples for the rest of unemployment-ridden Europe?     

The mediterranean policy of the EC—The case of agriculture

The production structures of the majority of Mediterranean countries have traditionally been oriented towards the West European market. What effects will the southward enlargement of the EC have on the agricultural sector of the non-candidate Mediterranean countries? What can the EC do to alleviate the problems?     

Institutional Prerequisites of Economic Partnership Agreements

At the end of 2007 the WTO waiver granted for the non-reciprocal EU/ACP trade preferences will phase out. New economic partnership agreements are currently under negotiation, but whether the ACP countries will be able to benefit from them depends to a large extent on the institutional setting in those countries. The following article takes the example of the Economic Community of West African States to examine the situation more closely.     

The social dimension and cohesion: Complementary or contradictory?

It is again being argued that the low labour costs and social standards in countries on the periphery of the EC—Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain—jeopardise employment in the northern EC countries and the social safety net they have constructed. A common social policy harmonising employment and social standards to safeguard the social status quo is therefore being advocated. How valid is this argument? What consequences would the implementation of such a “social action programme” have for the economies on the periphery? How are the Community’s objectives with regard to cohesion and social policy to be reconciled?     

After Lomé IV: ACP-EU trade preferences in the 21st century

The ACP countries and the EU recognise that the present non-reciprocal and discriminatory Lomé preferences must be replaced with WTO compatible arrangements. This means that the agreements conform either to the free trade area provisions of Article XXIV or to the GSP. This article sets out the key elements of ACP preferences and examines the potential advantages and disadvantages for various groups of ACP countries of possible forms of free trade areas and a ‘Lomé-equivalent’ GSP.     

Are Trade Preferences more Effective than Aid in Supporting Exports? Evidence from the ‘Everything But Arms’ Preference Scheme

This study examines the effect of the ‘Everything But Arms’ (EBA) trade preferences regime on exports from the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) to the European Union (EU). With this aim, an augmented gravity model is estimated for exports from the 79 ACP countries to the EU‐15 for the time period of 1995—2013 using panel data techniques. The results are used to quantify the effect of the eligibility for EBA preferences on the export performance of the ACP least developed countries (LDCs) and to relate it to the impact of official development assistance on exports. In addition to their separate effects, the combined impact of EBA and aid flows is examined. The main results do not provide evidence for an additional positive effect of the EBA agreement on the export performance of the ACP LDCs. However, receiving aid shows a significant and positive effect on exports from EBA‐eligible ACP countries to the EU‐15, supporting an EU development strategy that includes both sorts of assistance, aid and trade preferences.     

Canadian Promoters and American Markets: Regulating the Irregular, 1945–55

Canada has long depended heavily upon investment from the United States, particularly in the natural resource sector. Why, in the decade after World War II, did Canadian authorities permit the sale of large quantities of highly speculative mining and oil stocks south of the border in defiance of American law? Why run the risk of angering officials in the United States and perhaps endangering access to capital markets there? The financial community in Canada contended that the sale of speculative shares was essential to the country's speedy development, and provincial regulators claimed that they lacked the necessary powers to control promoters selling in the US. Negotiations between the two national governments to amend the Extradition Treaty so that the worst offenders could be hailed before American courts failed to provide a remedy to this situation, so that it continued to threaten the friendly relations between the two countries from time to time.     

Tax reforms and equity in ACP countries

While the tax reforms which have been instituted as part of the Structural Adjustment Programmes in ACP countries primarily aim at simplifying tax systems and raising their efficiency, they are also intended to improve distributional equity. This article assesses the equity effects of taxation policies in two selected ACP countries and points out what scope still exists for taxation measures to improve distributional equity without impairing allocative efficiency.     

Do currency boards increase the credibility of exchange-rate pegs?

After massive attacks against the peso in January 2002 the Argentine government abandoned its currency board arrangement. The collapse of the Argentine exchange-rate system initiated a new discussion about the pros and cons of currency boards. Why did the Argentine currency board fail? What does its collapse reveal about the conditions that have to be fulfilled for a currency board to function smoothly? What consequences can be drawn from the Argentine case with regard to the currency boards of countries in central and eastern Europe?     

The advantages of a small European Monetary Union

The question whether European Monetary Union should include all the EC countries from the start or should initially be limited to a few core countries is again being discussed more intensely. What advantages would a small EMU have from an economic point of view? Which countries should be its founder members?     

Sweet and Sour Changes in Trade Regimes

Sugar is an important export for a number of developing countries, especially in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions. In many of these countries, preferential access to the EU market has been a key factor to develop their sugar sectors. The recent and proposed changes to the international sugar trade regimes, particularly in the EU, are threatening this preferential access. We study the possible implications of such changes on ACP countries’ sugar production and exports by using a spatial price equilibrium model specifically developed for the sugar market. The results suggest that the effects of these changes are likely to vary according to the prevailing level of world sugar market price and according to whether ACP countries are current exporters to the EU.