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The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US will be the most significant of the free trade agreements (FTAs) that the EU and its Member States is contemplating with third states. FTAs generally envisage arbitration as the preferred method for dispute resolution not only between the contracting parties but also between a contracting party and a private investor. Generally, a choice for arbitration entails application of a lex arbitri, which governs the arbitral procedure and provides safeguards ensuring the proper conduct of arbitration proceedings. While the existence and relevance of a lex arbitri is considered self-evident in relation to international commercial arbitration, there is not a similar understanding when it comes to inter-state arbitration or arbitration between states and private parties, i.e. mixed arbitration. This paper posits that inter-state arbitrations are generally subject to public international law, since the adjudicative and the prescriptive jurisdiction of host states are limited by general rules of customary international law. Further, this paper posits that mixed arbitrations, which are not governed by a stand-alone system (such as ICSID or arguably the Iran-U.S. C.T.), nowadays appear to be governed by national arbitration laws. Therefore, if the envisaged mixed arbitration system in the TTIP and other FTAs is to function as a stand-alone regime, independently from national arbitration laws and without interference from national courts, specific regulations in these treaties will be necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than ever distribution of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) between two neighbors, and ex partners in CEFTA 2006, Croatia and B&H becomes in focus of producers and retailers. Mainly because customs liberation that existed between two ex CEFTA partners ceased to be valid by entering Croatia in EU, and leaving CEFTA. Bosnia and Herzegovina was most important trading partner for Croatia, with the highest rate of trade liberalization within CEFTA 2006. At the same time Croatia was the most important trade partner for B&H. According to above mentioned the aim of this paper is to find out the possibility of the promotion of foreign trade between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia for consumer products (milk and dairy products). Those FMCG earlier exchanged between two partners became today more costly. For that reason, to make these products more attractive to their consumers retailers and producers from both countries must jointly work to create greater value, i.e. compensate for the price difference trough creation of the value chain between B&H and Croatia retailers and producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000s, the United States and European Union have discussed the development of bilateral and regional trade agreements. The TTIP -- Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was announced in February 2013 and is currently under negotiation. The initiative aims at establishing a trade agreement between the two blocs, removing all trade barriers, including the non-tariff ones, in a wide range of economic sectors. The paper looks at several key elements that the bilateral negotiations are set to challenge from the European Union perspective. We focus on the main causes for resistance within the EU towards establishing the agreement, seeking to understand the future framework for international trade for the European states. While the EU continues integration to establish a functioning internal market, still continuing the process of diminishing and eliminating non-tariff barriers among the member states, we examine whether liberalisation of trade and investment between the US and the EU will benefit the EU as a whole, considering the current socio-economic trends at the Union's level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ongoing debate about best ways to assess the compatibility of RTAs with WTO rules and the possible negative impact that the proliferation of RTA formation may have on individual members and on the stability of the multilateral trading system as a whole. Therefore, rules defining the WTO compatibility of RTAs are one of the issues in the WTO Doha negotiations. Taking the current EPA negotiations between ACP and EU as an example, this paper examines two sorts of questions: (i) the implications for developing country members of the current proposals to tighten the rules on WTO compatibility of RTAs; (ii) the impact that the proliferation of RTA formation may have on non-RTA members and on the stability of the multilateral trading system as a whole. More specifically, the paper assesses quantitatively using a partial equilibrium framework the implications for ACP countries of some of the proposals to reform GATT Art. XXIV, in particular the "substantially all trade" criteria. Based on a CGE approach, the paper then looks at the implications of EPA negotiations on third countries and its linkages with the ongoing Doha negotiations, in particular on how the future EPA agreements could be non-trade diverting, in line with Ohyama-Panagariya- Krishna version of the Kemp-Wan theorem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit implies that the UK may move to different rules to control state aid, although changes will be minimal if it remains within the EEA and could be minor in the event of an EU/UK trade agreement. With a 'hard' Brexit, there could be much greater scope for selective industrial policy and that might be seductive to a government intent on a new industrial strategy. In this case, however, the risks of 'government failure' are considerable and it would be desirable to devise an institutional framework that strictly limits the scope for politicians to exercise discretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the potential effects from trade facilitation in terms of increased trade flows both on average and specifically for the six regional groups of ACP countries negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU. Data from the World Bank's Doing Business Database on the time required to export or import are used as indicators of cross-border transaction costs, and a gravity model on two-way bilateral trade between 22 EU countries and 100 developing countries is estimated using a sample selection approach. The results suggest that time delays on the part of the exporter and the importer generally significantly decrease trade flows, but also that this effect is not constant, in the sense that the elasticity of trade with respect to border delays declines at higher levels of time requirements. On average, lowering border delays in the exporting country by one day from the sample mean would yield an export-increasing effect of about 1 percent, while the same reduction in the importing country would increase imports by about 0.5 percent. Significant negative effects are also found of both export and import transaction costs for most EPA groups, and the effects tend to be at least as large as the average or larger. The results are generally robust for a number of alternative estimation methods such as Poisson estimation, IV estimation taking sample selection into account and the sample selection approach suggested by Helpman et al. (2007). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that law-and-economics research on international law hasbeen limited by two methodological wrong turns. First, the literature generallyassumes that the standard dilemmas of international cooperation do not apply tothe European Union, on the grounds that the EU represents a single superfederationrather than an agreement among multiple countries. That position hasproven implausible, however, in light of the recent unraveling of legalcoordination across Europe. Second, the economic analysis of international lawtends to assume that treaties are designed to facilitate the provision global publicgoods. That starting point is problematic as well, because a vast body ofinternational agreements cover joint investments in club goods, which raise adistinct set of collective action problems. The broader claim of this article is thatthe two wrong turns in the economic analysis of international law are related, andcorrect each other when examined in parallel. The first half of the article showshow the theory of club goods can provide a unified explanation of all three wavesof European disintegration: the Eurozone financial crisis, the collapse ofSchengen Area border controls, and Brexit. The second half explains whyanalyzing EU treaties under that framework also clarifies the way that otherinternational agreements dealing with club goods work. Specifically, it reveals that the legal elements which regulate entry and exit in those agreements serveradically different functions than are otherwise suggested by prevailing theoriesof treaty design. The result is to flip some fundamental debates in internationallaw on their head, including the question of whether treaties act to "screen orconstrain" the compliance of members and the extent to which agreements withmore flexible terms promote international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses one very important aspect of the international agreements concluded by the EU: their direct effect. The possibility for individuals to rely on provisions from a vast number of legally binding treaties directly before national courts is essential for the enforceability and the application of international rules. The issue of the 'direct effect' is nowadays even more important, since the EU is in the process of negotiation of the immensely significant and controversial agreement for investment and trade with the US: The Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP). This article will discuss the possible implications of the concept on this particular treaty in the light of the jurisprudence of the CJEU regarding other international agreements - the World Trade Organization (WTO) on one hand, and the various cooperation agreements or conventions on the other - and will offer arguments in favour of the recognition of the direct effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1990 there has been a significant growth in Norwegian-Polish bilateral trade. Of key interest to this work is to identify the main industries driving bilateral trade and to what extent this trade is in similar or different goods, suggesting either industrial convergence or specialization, respectively. When measured in nominal terms, up until 2014, Norway’s exports to Poland have increased by a factor of 16, while Norway’s imports from Poland have increased by a factor of 32 during the same period. Over the period 2005-2014 Norwegian imports and exports have both increased by an approximate 200% .This can be strongly attributed to Poland’s membership in the European Union since 2004 and the fact that Norway has a free trade agreement with the EU. Therefore, taking into account not only the significant expansion in bilateral trade between these two countries but also the differences in their respective structures of industry, this work seeks to analyse the main factors behind the development of this trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Association Agreement concluded between the European Union and Chile in 2002 included a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that entered into force in February 2003. Our purpose is to analyse some of the economic consequences of the agricultural part of this agreement focusing in the fruit and vegetable market. Our finding is that market concentration has significantly decreased since the beginning of previous dec ade and has been reinforced in both markets. This has been an advantage for both Chilean producers and European consumers of fruits and vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the important role played by scientists in clarifying the impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a proposed trade treaty between the U.S. and Europe. It examines the link between free-trade agreements and economic growth. It also explores the advantages and disadvantages of the TTIP and cites views from TTIP opponents including globalization advocate Jeffrey Sachs and economics Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.