Stabilization and Association Process in the Banlkans : Integration Options and their Assessment
The stabilization and association process launched by the European Union in the aftermath of the Kosovo war in 1999 has created a new policy environment for five South East European countries (SEE-5). In exchange for EU assistance, the prospect of...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/08/2494637/stabilization-association-process-banlkans-integration-options-assessment http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18140 |
| Summary: | The stabilization and association
process launched by the European Union in the aftermath of
the Kosovo war in 1999 has created a new policy environment
for five South East European countries (SEE-5). In exchange
for EU assistance, the prospect of EU accession, and the
continuation of preferential access to EU markets, SEE-5
governments have to upgrade their institutions and
governance by European standards and engage in mutual
regional cooperation, including stability pact
member-countries. The authors examine the benefits to SEE-5
of trade liberalization along two dimensions and suggest
conditions under which these could be maximized. They argue
that the process of regional trade liberalization should be
extended to multilateral liberalization, aligning SEE-5
most-favored-nation (MFN) applied tariffs on industrial
products with EU MFN tariffs, and that priority be given to
structural reforms and regional cooperation aimed at trade
facilitation. As inter-industry trade rather than
intra-industry trade dominates intra-SEE-5 trade, the
potential for expansion in intra-SEE-5 trade is limited at
least within the confines of the existing production
structures and transportation infrastructure. Therefore
SEE-5 free trade agreements are unlikely to contribute to
economic growth without concurrent efforts to improve
infrastructure, trade facilitation, business, and investment
climate, as well as to increase competition from MFN imports
to external preferential suppliers through multilateral liberalization. |
|---|