Search results

With trade in industrial products between the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs) now essentially free of tariff and non-tariff restrictions, the principal impact of accession to the EU on trade flows will be through access to the single market of the EU. A key element of this will be the removal of technical barriers to trade. In this article we try to highlight the potential importance of technical barriers to trade between the EU and the various CEECs, distinguishing between sectors according to the different approaches to the removal of these barriers in the EU: mutual recognition, detailed harmonization (old approach) and minimum requirements (new approach). We use two sources of information on technical regulations: a sectoral classification from a previous study of the impact of the single market and our own detailed translation of EU product-related directives into the relevant tariff codes. The analysis suggests that the importance of technical barriers varies considerably across the CEECs. The adjustment implications of access to the single market are likely to be greatest for those most advanced in their accession negotiations. (Journal of Common Market Studies / FUB)

Using public opinion surveys conducted in the member states of the European Union, this paper seeks to provide a systematic understanding of public support for the EMU project and European-level monetary policy authority. We develop models of support for EU monetary policy that incorporate a utilitarian component and elements of multilevel governance that is emerging within the EU. These models are tested at the aggregate level of survey respondents. The results show that variations in attitudes to the common currency are driven by collectively-based considerations of the costs and benefits associated with the common currency project as well as the interaction of European-level politics and the domestic politics of the member states. (European Journal of Political Research / FUB)