REGIONAL COOPERATION AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

PART I:
Greater openness means fiercer competition on the domestic markets. This obliges politicians
to improve institutional framework and prompts companies to continually optimize their
production processes and develop new products. Results are seen in liberalizing efforts
attached to multilateral WTO negotiation process. Beside that trade liberalization interests
and achievements are presented by growing interest to agree on constructing different
forms of so called Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). RTAs, or as we can call them today
Economic Integration Agreements (EIA) among states, were growing in their number and
complexity ast in the past. They developed and implemented different levels and forms of
trade liberalization among the partner countries. We would like to understand the theoretical
reasoning to explain fast growth in the number and form of RTAs in the past approximately
20 years. Beside that it is important to see whether multilateral trade liberalization is really
an option which already hit its limits. Additionally may be interesting to understand whether
present global economic crises adds some difficulties to the process of multilateral trade
liberalization efforts including the future stability and number growth of different EIAs.
1. Multilateral and regional trade liberalization in the time perspective
After Treaty of Rome (1957) establishing European Economic Community (EEC), the
opening process of individual national economies started to be two lain process in fact. First
trade liberalization was related to contractual parties of GATT, later transferred into WTO
(1995) members. WTO members negotiate multilateral trade liberalization whit relative
good success for trade in goods. There were some exceptions not included in the tirade
liberalization schemes like for textile and agricultural products. Second trade liberalization
track were negotiations among countries establishing Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)
where one of the most development successful experiences was related to EEC. RTAs in
general were giving member states chances to get (more) open access for their goods and
later services to the partner countries’ markets faster in comparison to multilateral process.
WTO multilateral negotiations proved to be successful mostly during Uruguay round (The
Uruguay…) – before WTO establishing. After establishment of the WTO multilateral trade
liberalization process got slower (as already had had sometimes in the GATT’s past). The
reasons for last years slowing down of global multilateral trade liberalization process are
at least twofold.
The number of members in the WTO is increasing. The most important was accession of
China at the end of 2001. After 1995 total of 24 new members entered WTO. It represents
around 17% of present (19.6.2009) total membership (WTO member…). Additionally
in the WTO process of multilateral negotiations we can find additional 33 countries
which are included in the process as WTO observers. Among them most important is
probably Russian Federation. Beside the growing number of the WTO membership the
increasing complexity of the issues negotiated makes the multilateral trade negotiations
slow and difficult to achieve generally accepted results. Problems with how to master
major differences among members to further liberalization are present symmetrically
in less and in more developed group of countries. Developed members like members of
EU have problem to accept liberalization proposal in the area of their Agriculture policy.
On the other side less developed members have some general reservations too, like their
reservation to further service trade liberalization. Today such developments show rather
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