The Incidental Fortress: The Single European Market and World Trade

The European Union's role in international trade contains two significant contradictions: first, although its trade policy, with some notable exceptions, is generally fairly liberal, it has been the respondent in a number of high‐profile trade disputes; second, al though a champion of multilate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of common market studies 2004-06, Vol.42 (2), p.393-414
Main Author: Young, Alasdair R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Common markets
European Union
International Economic Organizations
International Trade
Markets
Policy Making
Studies
Trade policy
World Economy
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Summary:The European Union's role in international trade contains two significant contradictions: first, although its trade policy, with some notable exceptions, is generally fairly liberal, it has been the respondent in a number of high‐profile trade disputes; second, al though a champion of multilateralism, the EU has had problems complying with World Trade Organization (WTO) judgments. I argue that these contradictions in the EU's trading persona are due to the internal dynamics of European policy‐making, which create ‘regulatory peaks’ where the member governments' rules diverge, and render the resulting rules difficult to alter.
ISSN:0021-9886
1468-5965
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-5965.2004.00493.x