This article contributes a counter-example to the discussion about the negative effects of regionalism on the multilateral trading order. The article analyses the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations during the Uruguay Round and shows that France was induced to accept a...

Regional economic integration is back in vogue following the "stumble" in the Doha Round in July 2008. Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are driving this trend in Asia and the Pacific as well as in Central and South America, and the sheer volume of PTAs is striking. In the 1990s there were...