This article reviews the theoretical and the empirical literature on regionalism. The formation of regional trade agreements has been, by far, the most popular form of reciprocal trade liberalization in the past 15 years. The discriminatory character of these agreements has raised three main...

The correlation between the motives and the results behind TRIPS-plus FTAs appears flawed. FTAs currently entail a shift of a fair balance of interests (if it ever existed) towards developed countries and there is need for action on the level of international law. Remedies must therefore be...

Most of countries in the European continent are related to each other by a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) that includes services. The aim of this study is to analyze the pattern of trade in services in Europe. In considering the three main important RTAs in force in Europe, I find that the main...

The growth of digital trade is dependant upon greater interconnectivity across borders. Several countries strive to achieve such interconnectivity and integration in digital trade through international trade agreements. Digital trade integration is a complex, multidimensional process that...

This paper exams two mega-regional FTAs under negotiation at the time of writing, namely the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and exams what the implications may be - particularly of new rules in regulatory sectors hitherto untouched by...

This article uses the recently negotiated Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to examine the potential implications of the rise of mega-regional trade agreements (MRTAs) for global environmental governance. Though unlikely to come into force as planned, the TPP represents the state of the...

Restrictive preferential rules of origin cause producers in RTAs to source intermediate materials from RTA partners instead of non-parties in order to meet the rules of origin requirements. For RTAs concluded under Article XXIV, restrictive preferential rules of origin open doors to selective...