Whither EUs FTA Policy?

As the Doha Round of trade liberalisation has been suspended, and as
the prospects for renewed efforts to put the Round back on track again
seem rather pale, there is today a greater interest in starting
bilateral negotiations for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The United
States and many Asian countries have been active on the FTA front in
the last years, but now the European Union is also building up steam
for a new FTA agenda. The EU has lifted its earlier moratorium on new
FTA negotiations and will soon embark on an ambitious programme for new
FTAs at the same time as present FTA processes will be concluded.

At the seminar we will discuss current and future FTA policy in
Europe—and the prospects for ambitious FTAs that contribute
substantially to trade liberalisation and improved conditions for
cross-border exchange without leading to trade diversion and complex
webs of regulations. Furthermore, as the trade agenda in Europe to a great
extent will rest on FTA negotiations, it is crucial to analyse how
these negotiations can improve the conditions for unilateral reform in
Europe and multilateral reform in the WTO.

Download presentations from the seminar:

• Steve Woolcock: EU FTA Policy – An overview

• Eoin O’Malley: A View from Business

• Jim Rollo: Deep or Shallow Integration?