The Doha Development Agenda held the promise of substantial gains for developing countries. However, the realization of these gains is far from obvious: the interests of various groups of countries differ greatly and technical complexities have hampered further progress since the very start of the negotiations.

Against the background of the agenda of the present trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization and its slow progress, this enlightening book outlines the positions of the main players. Its central focus is to analyze the main effects of these positions and to...

The 'Everything But Arms' (EBA) regulation of the European Union (EU) has been hailed as a groundbreaking initiative for developing countries. Since 2001 EBA grants almost completely liberalized access to the European market for products from the least-developed countries (LDCs). It quickly became the most symbolic European trade initiative towards the Third World since the first Lome Convention in the 1970s.

Given its central position in EU discourse and its continuing relevance for the European and international trade agenda, this book attempts to present a thorough...

The World Trade Organization will become the overall and comprehensive multilateral framework for regulating international trade and trade-related matters. Notwithstanding major achievements made during eight years of negotiations, there will be new challenges requiring rules and regulations in areas not yet adequately covered. Economists, lawyers and authors from trade unions and private companies approach the issues of regionalism, labour standards and environmental protection from different angles and from the North-South perspective. The first challenge is to bring about a "level playing...

The Doha Development Agenda held the promise of substantial gains for developing countries. However, the realisation of these gains is far from obvious, as the interests of various groups of countries differ greatly and technical complexities have hampered further progress since the very start of the negotiations. Against the background of the agenda of the present trade negotiations of the World Trade Organization and its slow progress, this book outlines the positions of the main players.

Demonstrating the EBA's significant influence on internal & external EU politics, this book offers a comprehensive survey of the field for those studying the relationship between trade & development as well as those with an interest in the politics & economics of the EU.