The direct effects of EPAs on ACP countries arise from the requirement to eliminate tariffs on most imports from the EU. While consumers gain from cheaper imports, the government losses tariff revenue and producers face increased completion, implying adjustment costs. This paper estimates the...

Current arrangements under the Lomé Convention have given African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries preferential access to EU markets, but the legality of this non- reciprocal arrangement has been challenged by the World Trade Organisation. The European Union has proposed replacing these...

This book offers an independent, wide-ranging and in-depth analysis of a possible Free Trade Area between the EU and China. The design of the FTA is suggested to be 'deep and comprehensive', with extensive qualitative evidence in nine different domains of such a FTA, including investment. In...

This CEPS Policy Brief is based on a larger study for the EEAS and European Commission, written by the same authors in the run-up of the Milan ASEM summit of 16-17 October 2014. The main idea of the study is to assess whether ASEM works and how, by verifying the factual evidence in detail. After...

It is striking that there is little or no mention in the TTIP debate so far of the US-EU Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) concluded in 1998. At the time, expectations of the gains from the MRA were high. One should expect the MRA to be instructive for TTIP and entail some lessons to be learned...

This paper demonstrates that an empirical link between aid and trade exist (for some donor-recipient pairs), but that the nature of this linkage is complex and can take a variety of forms. By identifying this complexity (and variability) we challenge the assertion, often made in debates...

The direct effects of EPAs on ACP countries arise from the requirement to eliminate tariffs on most imports from the EU. While consumers gain from cheaper imports, the government losses tariff revenue and producers face increased completion, implying adjustment costs. This paper estimates the...

This paper estimates the impact on a sample of 36 ACP countries of eliminating tariffs on agricultural imports from the EU under EPAs, considering trade, welfare and revenue effects. Even assuming ‘immediate’ complete elimination of all tariffs on agriculture imports from the EU, and when...