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Begin New Search Topic Treaties and Agreements Political Geography Europe

11. Protection of Geographical Indications in Trade Agreements: Is it worth it?

Author:
Charlotte Emlinger and Karine Latouche
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
Abstract:
This paper estimates the impact of the inclusion of GIs in bilateral agreements on French exports of foodstuffs. We rely on a unique dataset of firms and products concerned by Geographical Indications (GIs) in the French agri-food industry (excluding wine) for 2012-2019, merged with firm-product-destination level data from French Customs and the French National Institute of Statistics. Controlling for market and firm characteristics, we compare the exports of GI firms with those of non-GI firms before and after the signing of the 13 agreements (25 destination countries) that include a list of GIs to be protected. We show that the protection of GIs in EU RTA helps French firms to reach new markets and to sell their products at higher price, but it depends on the level of protection provided by the agreement.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, Bilateral Relations, European Union, and Trade
Political Geography:
Europe

12. Informe África 2024: El pacto migratorio y de asilo europeo

Author:
Fundación Alternativas
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Fundación Alternativas
Abstract:
A las puertas de las las decisivas elecciones decisivas al Parlamento Europeo de junio de 2024, Europa mira hoy con miedo a la inmigración. La cuestión de la inmigración (más de 286.000 llegadas irregulares a Europa en 2023 según la OIM) se ha convertido en un asunto central para la política europea: en un instrumento para ganar o perder elecciones. El ascenso de partidos de ultraderecha o de corte nacional-populista en importantes países receptores de migrantes mayoritariamente de origen africano, como Italia (caso Lampedusa: 153.000 llegadas en 2023) o España (Canarias: 40.000), se debe en parte a una hábil explotación del miedo a este fenómeno. Gobiernos, administraciones, o medios de comunicación han ido construyendo discursos de una “Europa fortaleza” frente a África, que tienen éxito entre amplios sectores sociales, en especial las clases medias y trabajadoras de los países europeos, a pesar de que, según Naciones Unidas, solo alrededor de una cuarta parte de los africanos que emigran lo hacen a suelo europeo.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Migration, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Africa and Europe

13. Reassessing the Kosovo-Serbia Normalization Dialogue: It is Time for a Reset?

Author:
Ramadan Ilazi
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
This paper questions the effectiveness of the ongoing EU-led dialogue in normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia, despite various agreements made since 2011 when the process started. This paper argues that the current process is leading towards a scenario where “no solution is a solution” could become the default stance of the international community, particularly within EU capitals. This is a result of Serbia playing the long game and Kosovo the waiting game. Such an outcome would potentially carry devastating consequences as it cements the status quo, risks regional stability, maintains Kosovo’s isolation, and deepens interethnic tensions within Kosovo.
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, European Union, Ethnicity, and Normalization
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Serbia

14. Senegal Redefines International Partnerships

Author:
Jędrzej Czerep
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The new Senegalese authorities, who vowed radical reforms during the campaign, have begun a review of the state’s international relations. As part of this process, they plan, among other things, to renegotiate the fisheries agreement with the EU, expel French troops, and reform or leave the regional monetary union. Despite the revolutionary rhetoric, similar to that of the populist military regimes from the Sahel, the Senegalese approach to the economy and regional politics is rational and, in the long term, aligned with EU interests.
Topic:
International Relations, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, Partnerships, and Populism
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Senegal

15. The Italy-Albania Agreement on Migration: From the Fiction of Non-Entry to Functional Entry

Author:
Carlotta Giordani
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The Italy-Albania protocol on migration should be seen as a policy that seeks to fill the gaps between the current EU migration management efforts and existing solidarity mechanisms. The policy brief examines the protocol between Italy and Albania. It briefly touches on the enlargement process and the relationship between Italy and Albania as the foundation for the development of the agreement between the two countries. It then moves on to discuss the content of the protocol, and offers a critical examination of its significance, namely the rescaling of sovereignty through ‘functional territoriality’ to overcome structural gaps in existing mechanisms. The Italy-Albania Protocol ratified by Law No. 14/24 allows Italy to examine applications for international protection on Albanian territory, but under Italian jurisdiction The agreement applies only to migrants intercepted by Italian vessels in the Mediterranean, not those who arrived on Italian soil first The Protocol can be considered an entry point to new approaches to territoriality. It will contribute to consolidate the legal fiction of non-entry and will contribute to the introduction of new mechanisms based on a functional extraterritoriality. The Protocol establishes a “functional territoriality”, since Italian law is being applied in an extraterritorial space It legally requalifies the notion of territory based on a fictio iuris aimed at equating areas belonging to the Albanian state to Italian border areas. The Protocol configures Albania as a mere supporting State, functional in the sense that it provides the space in which asylum seekers’ applications will be examined by the Italian authorities.
Topic:
Migration, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
Europe, Albania, and Italy

16. Navigating the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in the shadow of Non-Europe

Author:
Alberto-Horst Neidhardt
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
In December 2023, the European Parliament and Council secured a political agreement on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, bringing the reforms closer to implementation. Some see the measures as a political victory for European policymakers, clearing the way for more unified responses. However, the regulations could in fact lead to an 'age of non-Europe' in migration and asylum policy. This Discussion Paper analyses the issues arising from the reforms, which could consolidate states' power at the expense of community decision-making. Additionally, there is uncertainty about how the new system will function and its impact on the ground. This may lead member states to push even harder to outsource responsibilities to third countries outside the EU’s scrutiny. This is not the time for complacency. Attention must be devoted to the finalisation of the legislative texts and the development of implementation plans, as well as the identification of systemic and long-term needs, from financial support to monitoring.
Topic:
Migration, Treaties and Agreements, Asylum, European Parliament, and Council of Europe
Political Geography:
Europe

17. On the Importance of Placebo and Nocebo Effects in International Trade

Author:
Lucian Cernat
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)
Abstract:
Trade agreements are powerful drivers of global economic integration, leading to increased trade flows between countries. Usually, trade agreements are extensive documents with hundreds of provisions and different levels of enforceability. Are all these provisions useful, even those that are “best endeavours” and do not introduce legally binding obligations on trading partners? This policy brief proposes a new methodological approach to evaluate these effects. The basic idea is inspired by the “placebo effect” in medicine: under the right conditions, one can get positive results, even when the actual intervention is simply a “sugar pill”. Similarly, trade policies may have positive effects even when they lack strong, enforceable commitments. A placebo trade policy effect can emerge from “soft provisions” that bring positive trade effects, compared to the “do nothing” scenario. The main hypothesis behind this new methodology is that even if trade interventions lack the force to solve problems outright, a positive placebo effect can arise if stakeholders believe that such a policy will generate favourable market access. Conversely, a negative nocebo effect might emerge when stakeholders are convinced that certain trade policy initiatives (notably FTAs) have a detrimental impact, despite undeniable evidence to the contrary. The paper concludes with a few concrete examples illustrating both the placebo and nocebo effects and identifies factors that may lead to more positive outcomes from current and future trade policies.
Topic:
Globalization, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, Trade, and WTO
Political Geography:
Europe

18. The Élysée Treaty, FrancoGerman reconciliation and European integration: myth and reality

Author:
Hartmut Marhold
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:
“During General de Gaulle's visit last week, I thought often of you, the man who, with his proposal to create the European Coal and Steel Community, laid the foundations of the friendship which would henceforth bind our two countries so closely together. I always think of our cooperation with great appreciation. I feel the need, especially in the present circumstances, to express this gratitude to you[1],” wrote the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, on 10 September 1962 to former French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman. Konrad Adenauer was anxious to set things straight and avoid the creation of a myth. For him, Franco-German reconciliation, at the service of European integration, began on 9 May 1950 with the “Schuman Declaration”. It was not going to start with the Treaty in progress, the future Elysée Treaty. Robert Schuman, in his "Testimony on Adenauer", confirms this: "When in May 1950, the French government offered to the European nations to sit down, without discrimination between victorious and defeated countries, with equal rights and obligations, for a work of joint cooperation guaranteed by mutual control, this truly political revolution required Franco-German reconciliation. Even before consulting our friends and allies, we asked Chancellor Adenauer. If he had said no, Europe and European integration could not have existed. Our expectations were not disappointed[2].” Three years earlier, at a solemn ceremony, Konrad Adenauer had already had the opportunity to address Robert Schuman in front of a Franco-German audience, emphasising that it was he, Schuman, who had "definitively put an end to the Franco-German history full of atrocities thereby creating a lasting friendship between the two peoples". He said: "You, Mr Schuman, took the initiative for this great work and began to build it. That is why we are deeply grateful to you.” The Chancellor concluded by insisting that "it was Monsieur Schuman who laid the foundations for a good and lasting understanding between France and Germany and for a European future, that Europe owed its survival to his action[3].”
Topic:
Treaties and Agreements, History, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
Europe, France, and Germany

19. The international tax agreement of 2021: Why it’s needed, what it does, and what comes next?

Author:
Kimberly Clausing
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
In 2021, more than 135 jurisdictions agreed on transformative new international tax rules that would establish a minimum tax rate of 15 percent on multinational corporate income regardless of where it was reported. In December 2022, the European Union unanimously moved forward to implement this minimum tax, and other countries, including South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, are also either implementing the tax or taking substantial steps toward implementation. In tandem, the United States should also reform its international tax system and adopt a stronger minimum tax. While the future of the international agreement is uncertain, it has important implications for the ability of governments worldwide to create tax systems that are administrable, fair, and efficient. The agreement also demonstrates important guiding principles for the future of multilateral cooperation on global collective action problems, including efforts to protect public health from future pandemics, address nuclear proliferation, and resolve territorial conflicts. US progress on international tax reform would enhance much needed international cooperation on these issues.
Topic:
Economics, Treaties and Agreements, Reform, European Union, and Tax Systems
Political Geography:
Europe and Global Focus

20. A New Horizon in U.S. Trade Policy: Key Developments and Questions for the Biden Administration

Author:
Trevor Sutton and Mike Williams
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for American Progress - CAP
Abstract:
This issue brief examines some of the key trade initiatives pursued by the Biden administration to date. It then sets out key questions facing U.S. trade policy in a global environment defined by volatility and renewed ambition to tackle the great challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, inequality, and great power competition.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Climate Change, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, Inequality, Economy, Trade Policy, and Strategic Competition
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, United States of America, and Americas