The European Union (EU) has concluded or currently is in the process of concluding Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Instead of the unilateral approach prevalent until the Lomé Agreements, the EPAs are bi-regional reciprocal...

The EU has recently concluded or is currently in the process of negotiating a number of bilateral free trade agreements with both industrialized countries, e.g. Japan, and developing as well as emerging economies. Negotiations with the latter group also include Vietnam, where negotiations were...

The EU has recently concluded or is currently in the process of negotiating a number of bilateral free trade agreements with both industrialized countries, e.g. Japan, and developing as well as developing and emerging economies. Negotiations with the latter group include Tunisia, where...

The European Union (EU) promotes the Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam (EVFTA) as an important milestone of its trade agenda. The agreement, whose part with EU-only issues is supposed to be ratified in 2019, is the most comprehensive one that the EU has concluded with a developing country so...

The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries mark a new era in the economic relations between both sides. Reciprocal tariff liberalization will however result in asymmetric market opening by ACP partners, which will entail negative,...

The European Union (EU) and Tunisia launched negotiations on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) in 2015. So far, progress has been limited. The enhanced integration of the Tunisian economy into the EU single market involves several controversial topics. Above and beyond the...

What are the economic effects of TTIP? In the public debate, a few selected studies, mostly commissioned by the European Commission, have set the tone, suggesting that effects are positive on both sides of the Atlantic. The studies are from Ecorys (2009), CEPR (2013), CEPII (2013) and...

The current negotiations on a transatlantic Free-Trade Agreement between the US and the EU (TTIP) have raised substantial public interest. Several studies have highlighted the positive economic effects of TTIP. A new ÖFSE report shows that these claims are overstated and neglect crucial...

Many least developed countries (LDCs) face commodity dependence on the export and import side. This paper develops a structuralist computable general equilibrium model for commodity-dependent LDCs and simulates global commodity price shocks for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mozambique. Results show...

This policy note presents policy recommendations for a sustainable development strategy targeting the Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa processing sectors. Against the backdrop of a comparatively small share of processed cocoa exports and limited opportunities in the cocoa global value chain,...