Regional Integration in Europe

Abstract

* Country studies are the result of internal analysis of the economic situation of the respective member country; they are made on the responsibility of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the Commission of the European Communities.

What is the Cause of Growth in Regional Trade: Trade Liberalisation or RTAs? The Case of Agriculture

“…The finding that the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has caused severe trade diversion in its agricultural imports is a widely shared result of many studies (see Winters, 1993;Sapir, 1992;Krugman, 1991b;Jacquemin and Sapir, 1988;and Balassa, 1975). We also find evidence in support of this result, although the extent of trade diversion in agriculture is not as pronounced as we had initially expected it to be.…”

Regional convergence in Greece in the 1980s: an econometric investigation

“…According to this report, the challenge for the 1990s is to maintain the momentum for economic convergence and help the diverging regions to turn around. Sapir (1992) has evaluated the effects of European integration on trade, welfare and income distribution and concluded that they were beneficial. However, not all regions reaped the same benefits.…”

Customs Union or Free Trade Area? The Role of Political Asymmetries

“…Nevertheless, our results are roughly consistent with the experience of the EEC, although our model is not an exact fit to that situation. As reported by Sapir (1992), at the time of the Treaty of Rome in 1958, member countries had very different average tariffs: Benelux 9.7%, France 17.0%, Germany 6.4%, and Italy 18.7%. Adoption of common external tariffs in 1968 meant an average tariff of 10.4% for all countries.…”