Bilateral Agreements: How the EU is Widening its Trade Horizons

HOUSSEIN GUIMBARD; MARIA PRISCILA RAMOS

LA LETTRE DU CEPII

CEPII, EDITORIAL OFFICE

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2008 p. 1 - 4

0243-1947

In addition to the multilateral liberalisation process of the 153 members of the WTO, trade policies have  continued to develop at regional and bilateral levels. In parallel to its commitment to the Doha Round, the European Union (EU) is attempting to consolidate its trade relations with some partners by  means of bilateral agreements. The EU is negotiating with two groups of countries in particular: mercosur and ASEAN. The terms of the negotiation make the prospective agreement with mercosur a sort of miniature Doha; with ASEAN, it is a question of going further than the multilateral proposals, particularly in the field of services. Simulations carried out with the mirage model give an accurate idea of the issues involved in these two projects