Gerrit Faber

Everything But Arms: Much More than Appears at First Sight*

This article examines the impact of the EUs ‘Everything But Arms’ initiative. Starting from the observations that the effects in terms of trade flows have been modest and that EBA nevertheless sparked fierce debate within the EU, we argue that it has had broader ramifications beyond exports of least-developed countries. Subsequently, we analyse the influence of EBA on three interrelated areas: reforming EU agricultural policy (internal), restructuring EU–ACP relations (regional) and forging a WTO round (global). We conclude that EBA has played a catalysing role in these issues, in line with the globalist-liberal preferences which have become dominant in the EU.

The new trade and development agenda of the European Union

Abstract The European Union has always used trade policy measures for development objectives. But the design and content of the EUs ‘trade and development’ relations have changed considerably during the past five decades. This paper focuses on the most recent changes in the Unions common commercial policy vis-à-vis the South, looking at three levels: The EU role in the multilateral negotiations of the WTO Doha Development Agenda, Europes bilateral trade agreements with third countries and regions and its unilateral market access schemes through the Generalised System of Preferences. Although historical factors continue to determine the EUs position in these areas, a relatively new European trade and development agenda can be discerned. More specifically, it is argued that two trends have underlined recent changes in this area. First, there is a drive towards reciprocal trade relations, in line with the WTO regime. Even Europes unilateral and bilateral trade relations are increasingly streamlined with the multilateral trade rules. Second, there is a growing emphasis on regulatory issues, capacity building and aid for trade. This new and broad trade agenda illustrates the European position that promoting free trade is not sufficient for economic development of the South. However, the paper concludes that the EUs new commercial policies are not consistently development oriented, and that more coherence between trade and aid policies would be needed.

European Union trade politics and development: everything but arms unravelled

1. Introduction: The Relevance of EBA for Europes Trade and Development Policies 2. The Development of EBA 3. The North-South Dimension within the European Union: Conflicts over EBA 4. Bureaucratic Competition in EU Trade Policy: EBA as a Case of Competing Two-level Games 5. The Political Dynamics behind US and EU Trade Initiatives Towards the Least-developed Countries 6. Unilateral Trade Preferences of the US and the EU: Their Effectiveness for Sub-Saharan Exports and the Role of Geography and Institutions 7. Unilateral Trade Preferences of the US and the EU: Their Effectiveness and the Role of the Rules of Origin in the Apparel Sector 8. Symbolic and Effective?: An LDC Perspective on Duty- and Quota Free Market Access 9. The Significance of the EBA Scheme for CAP Reform 10. X EBA and the EU Sugar Market: Development Gift or Trojan Horse? 11. EU-ACP Negotiations on Regional Partnership Agreements and EBA 12. Normative Power Europe?: EBA, Economic Partnership Agreements and Benevolent Self-images. Conclusion: All About Nothing?

Economic Integration in Europe and Income Divergence Over EU Regions (1995-2006)

This paper tests the question whether the integration process in the EU has contributed to the often-observed growing dispersion of income over the regions of the EU, in the presence of convergence between the member states. We do this by introducing price convergence as an indicator of integration and controlling for the concentration of skilled labour and allowing for path dependency. Our main findings are in line with the expectations of the New Economic Geography School in that integration does contribute to the growing regional inequality in the EU. Price convergence is a significant explanatory variable even after the introduction of a time lag in the dependent variable.

Does Institutional Change Spread Across Countries? Explaining Spatial Patterns in Human Rights

If a country improves its human rights record, will neighbouring countries benefit? Beneficial spillovers could justify intervention by the UN or one of the many other organisations that internationally fight human rights violations. We document that countries’ human rights performances often resemble the human rights situation of their neighbours. However, exploiting time variation in a spatial panel, we find that much of that resemblance is simply determined by the shared geographical location. Changes in neighbouring countries have little influence on local human rights, suggesting that contemporaneous spillovers and interactions are limited.