While in the European Union, the common commercial policy seems to be gradually refocusing on the implementation of free trade agreements (FTAs) (see EUROPE 12298/24, 12293/14), a recent publication by the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) looks at the real impact of these agreements and the complexity of assessing this impact.
The assessment of the effectiveness of FTAs is compromised by incomplete data and estimates, note authors Anna Jerzewska, customs consultant, and Nicolas Köhler, trade policy advisor at International Trade Intelligence.
Despite the proliferation of FTAs, “researchers still do not fully understand their effects” and decision-makers have only a limited understanding of their use.
Notably, they believe that the rate of use of tariff preferences and other quotas offered in these agreements remains poorly understood.
In particular, systematic analysis of this use of preferences would be an important step forward in better understanding the concrete economic benefits that FTAs can produce. Such an analysis would ultimately strengthen economic integration between FTA partners by identifying gaps in implementation, but also by addressing some of the unanticipated impacts.
To allow a more systematic review of this implementation, these researchers propose that the World Trade Organization create a centralised database on the use of trade treaties.
To consult the study: https://bit.ly/2O5XvP8 (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)