In world-wide negotiations and agreements on raw material problems the Community is either taking part as such or represented by the member state providing the Chairman of the Council. Admittedly it has often been difficult to work out the required common position for the member states, and only...

The war in Ukraine has brought the challenges stemming from Europe’s dependency on natural gas and oil imports into sharp focus. This has also highlighted another dependency - that on raw materials that are critical for the EU’s transition to a low-carbon economy. A strategic approach to raw...

The successful completion of negotiations on the Common Fund has not yet led to the hoped-for break-through for any of the commodity agreements belonging to the Integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC). Opposition, particularly by the industrialised countries, but also by individual producer...

After five years of tough negotiations at numerous conferences about an integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC) the participating countries agreed in March 1979 on basic and operational regulations for the key instrument of this programme, a Common Fund. In its present version it is closely...

Weighty objections have been raised against stabilization of commodity markets through agreements. The drawbacks of commodity agreements can, however, be largely overcome if the rigid theoretical notion of a price fixed strictly for a long period is abandoned.

This article may be of particular interest in view of the fact that UNCTAD has now for the first time set down a schedule for preparatory negotiations on raw materials. The resolution of UNCTAD IV on the treatment of the integrated action programme for raw materials is now to be realised....