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4802. Perspectives on EU-India Relations
- Author:
- Feng Geng
- Publication Date:
- 10-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Since the 1960s, relations between the EU and India have developed rapidly. Nowadays, EU–India relations have a strong institutional architecture, including regular summits (political and commercial), meetings of ministers and senior officials and so on. Within this institutional framework, the EU and India have launched a comprehensive and fruitful cooperation. There is much active political collaboration, such as in the reform of the United Nations and the fight against terrorism, based on common values. Trade and investment between the EU and India are experiencing strong growth but lack symmetry.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Political Economy, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, India, and Asia
4803. Reverse Balkanisation? Trade Integration in South-East Europe
- Author:
- David Kernohan
- Publication Date:
- 08-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Recent research from the World Bank and elsewhere suggests that openness to trade was a vital ingredient in the transition of the former Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) that joined the EU in May 2004. Current EU association agreements in South East Europe indicate that future enlargements may need to accommodate the remaining former Yugoslav Republics as well as the existing candidate countries. This paper examines persistent concerns that trade openness in South East Europe generally, and the former Yugoslav Republics in particular, is much less advanced than it was for the former CEECs in the mid to late 1990s. In particular we examine the issue of whether the present network of bilateral trade arrangements put in place under the Stability Pact has had much effect in boosting trade integration and whether trade within the region is currently at or below its potential. Given the small size of many of the countries in the region, we find that trade patterns remain problematic. In some cases they are smaller than might be expected but in several cases there is an overdependence on trade with old Yugoslav neighbours. In view of this, we consider that current plans to extend the Stability Pact matrix of bilateral trade agreements into a pan-regional trade association are likely to be inadequate. A better option, and one more likely to have a more immediate effect, would be to extend the present Customs Union with Turkey to include trade with the entire South East European zone of countries linked to the EU.
- Topic:
- International Relations and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, and Balkans
4804. Europe's Financial Perspectives in Perspective
- Author:
- Paul Veenendaal, Herman Stolwijk, and George Gelauff
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The budget of the European Union nearly always raises much commotion. Many member states anxiously guard their net payment positions: don't they pay too much for the EU compared to what they receive from the EU? Yet, from an economic perspective the subsidiarity principle is much more important: Should the funds be allocated by the Union or by the individual member states? From that angle, a number of fundamental reforms of European agricultural policy and structural actions (support to lagging regions) suggest themselves. These reform options may more than halve the EU budget. In addition they happen to bring the net payment positions of member states closer together.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Economics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
4805. Modelling the Multifunctionality of Czech Agriculture
- Author:
- Ivan Foltýn and Tomáš Doucha
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The transformation of Czech agriculture since 1990 under the different stages of agricultural policy has resulted in the emergence of a strong, dual farm structure with a high share of leased land and profit-maximising (vs. family) farms. This working paper assesses the current situation concerning the multifunctional aspects of Czech farms. Applying a non-linear optimising model (FARMA 4), this study simulates the effects of different policy scenarios up to 2010 on the selected set of indicators of multifunctionality for eight farm categories (differentiated into three regions and by profit/income orientation). Under all the scenarios, there is a tendency towards a more extensive level of production with lower labour input, particularly by the profit-oriented farms that prevail in Czech agriculture.
- Topic:
- Agriculture, Politics, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Czech Republic
4806. The Trade-Induced Effects of the Services Directive and the Country-of-Origin Principle
- Author:
- Arjan Lejour, Henk Kox, and Roland de Bruijn
- Publication Date:
- 04-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The proposed ServicIn March 2004, the European Commission proposed a directive on the internal market in services. Its aim is to boost the EU's internal market in services by reducing regulation-based impediments to trade and investment in services. A previous CPB study The free movement of services within the EU concluded that bilateral trade in commercial services may increase by 30-60 per cent. This equals an increase of total intra-EU trade (i.e. including trade in goods) of 2 to 5 per cent. For foreign direct investment in commercial services the EU proposal may lead to an increase by 20 per cent to 35 per cent.
- Topic:
- Economics, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
4807. Ukraine and the European Neighbourhood Policy: Ensuring the Free Movement of Goods and Services
- Author:
- Olga Shumylo
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The negotiation of a regional trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine is the next significant step towards Ukraine's deeper integration with the West. Drawing on analyses of official and independent analytical materials and statistical data, this paper explores the form such an arrangement should take – namely, which of the existing models would be an appropriate model for EU-Ukraine trade relations: a Free Trade Agreement, a Customs Union or something along the lines of the European Economic Area Agreement.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Ukraine
4808. Moldova's Convergence with the Acquis - A Pro-Growth and Pro-Integration Strategy
- Author:
- Oxana Gutu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The enlargement of the EU and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) have revived the debate in the 'neighbourhood countries' around the need to converge legislation with EU internal rules and regulations, known as the acquis communautaire. The political incentive of accession to the EU, which has driven legal approximation in new EU member states, is missing for ENP countries. Yet, in the case of countries like Moldova, the cost of non-compliance is significant and translates into loss of existing export markets (e.g. in Romania) and the inability to expand into new markets (SEE countries and the EU). The situation is made still worse by a poor level of economic governance. As convergence with the acquis is a huge task, the key challenge for ENP countries is to determine the priorities, sequence and degree of legal approximation. This paper argues that the optimum degree and appropriate pace of convergence need to be driven by economic rationale and the development of the trade potential of the country. Thus, to secure benefits and avoid high costs for the economy, the legal approximation agenda will be moving along clearly identified economic integration scenarios, i.e. achieving a functioning market economy; taking full advantage of EU trade preferences (GSP and APTs), preparing for an FTA with the EU and, over a considerable number of years, gradually achieving a stake in the EU's Internal Market.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Moldova, and Romania
4809. Knowledge Capital as the Source of Growth
- Author:
- Hannu Piekkola
- Publication Date:
- 03-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Regional disparities in the growth rates of GDP and total factor productivity (TFP) are a major policy concern in the European Union, not least because of the inclusion of new transition economies in the EU. The growth rate of a nation's TFP especially depends on its level of human capital rather than the increasing rate of human capital. The growth that is driven by innovation and the catching-up process spurred by technology imitation relies on educationbased human capital and related agglomeration. This explains why education provides a permanent advantage, which over time may increase in importance in the labour market.
- Topic:
- Economics and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe
4810. Strategic Implications of the EU Crisis
- Author:
- Timofei V. Bordachev, Jeffrey Gedmin, and Charles Grant
- Publication Date:
- 02-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The French and Dutch rejections of the Constitutional Treaty have opened up a period of deep and protracted difficulties for the European Union. The strategic implications of the new situation are compounded by the fact that foreign and security policy was one of the areas in which significant innovations have been provided for by the treaty.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe