Suchergebnisse

After gaining independence, African states embraced the idea of regional integration as an approach to boost economic development on the continent. This was evident in the new regional organizations that were predominantly generated among developing states in the southern hemisphere. Majority of these organizations, e.g. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), have continuously been striving to deepen social, political and most importantly economic integration and cooperation in Africa. In an attempt to further the regional integration agenda, there have been quite a number of colonial cross-border arrangements with EU. Assessed based on conventional integration theories by scholars like Ernst B. Haas, the prerequisites for effective regional economic integration in Africa, appear to be less successful, juxtaposed with the more developed and economically independent European Union. Although regional organizations like ECOWAS and SADC have managed to establish free trade areas (FTAs), they have failed to attain their agenda of establishing customs unions. Agendas of this kind among other things, are pertinent to consolidating the regional integration process. Even though several issues may be identified as causes of the inefficiency of the integration scheme on the continent, this paper explores the effect of north south trade agreements, in this case the economic partnership agreements (EPAs), on regional integration processes in Africa.

Making greater of use of the waters of the Congo could boost development across - and beyond - the region, but threatens to favour particular users' interests at the expense of others. Within its enormous catchment area, the Congo is the dominant transport network and the lifeblood of the African rain forest, upon which millions depend for their livelihoods. Tapping the river's resources could significantly improve the region's water and food supplies, while its hydro-energy potential could theoretically satisfy the electricity needs of the entire continent. Plans to construct more major dams at the Inga Falls demonstrate that the ten Congo Basin states are pursuing common goals - but also having to deal with sharpening intersectoral conflicts. An inconsistent line on dam-building makes it harder for Germany to play a constructive role in these development processes. (author's abstract)

Since the last century, the obsession of Mexican, Spanish and Portuguese reformists has been to make up the lost ground with modernized countries. This paper compares the experiences of Spain and Portugal in the European Union (EU) and of Mexico in NAFTA to study how integration has affected their economic structures and economic performance. It examines the relationship between regional integration, economic growth, and democratic consolidation in these three countries, and draws some lessons based on their regional integration experiences. ; Desde o século passado, a obsessão dos reformistas Mexicanos, Espanhóis e Portugueses tem sido a de recuperar o terreno perdido face aos países modernizados. Este artigo compara as experiências de Espanha e Portugal na União Europeia (UE) e do México na Associação de Livre Comercio da América do Norte (TLCAN) para avaliar como a integração afectou as suas estruturas e desempenho económicos. Estuda também a relação entre integração regional, crescimento económico e consolidação democrática nestes três países, e tira algumas lições baseadas nas suas estratégias de integração regional.

The relation between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) is the most institutionalised interregional relationship in the world. The EU, being a crucial external agent in African regional integration, exports open regionalism as a political norm through different mechanisms to the AU. Based on a qualitative research design with a constructivist theoretical viewpoint that regards regional organisations as interdependent political authorities, the dissertation examines the AU's receptivity to the EU's attempted norm diffusion and explores genuine AU norm import of European promoted regional integration. A document analysis of official EU and AU declarations and legislation in combination with primary data collected via semi-structured interviews with officials at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa offers further insights into the African perspective on regional integration. Out of a variety of EU norm export channels, the study identifies capacity-building in the form of technical and financial assistance as most influential in promoting African regional integration processes. While coercion and political dialogue respectively lead to AU resistance and decoupling alias theatre regionalism, capacity-building and positive conditionality result in institutional incorporation and policy changes. A choice-oriented approach traces this genuine norm import in response to civilian norm diffusion mechanisms back to the external agency of the EU, despite major constraints like the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU and alternative interregional options within the alliance of emerging market economies. Yet, the limited traceable AU institutional and policy reforms reveal the agency of the AU. Norm import cannot be taken for granted; it only occurs when sufficient incentives are offered to the receiving side. Political dialogue is inspirational, but needs to be supplemented with financial and technical assistance to yield genuine norm import. These findings contribute to a better understanding of prospective EU-AU relations and can be used by policy-makers to adjust interregional negotiations like the on-going post-Cotonou consultations.

This article analyses the EU's influence on regional institutional change in Mercosur and the Southern African Development Community from a diffusion perspective. Focusing on market-building objectives and dispute settlement mechanisms, it addresses the puzzle that policy-makers in both regions have, over time, increasingly adopted EU-style institutional arrangements even though alternative institutional models more suitable to their preferences for 'pragmatic', sovereignty-preserving cooperation have been available at various critical junctures of institutional evolution. The article makes two main arguments. First, it suggests that EU influence has affected outcomes in several specific ways that are irreducible to, and quite different from, mainstream functional accounts of economic regionalism. Second, it contends that the diffusion of EU institutional templates can be understood as a process of spurred emulation, when regional policy-makers emulate EU institutional models under conditions of uncertainty and promoted by EU-oriented domestic actors as well as the EU's direct involvement in the process.