Ideas, Institutions, and Trade
The WTO and the Curious Role of EU Farm Policy in Trade Liberalization
Published on 3. September 2009
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-19-955775-2 (ISBN)
Description
Agriculture has a small, and declining, importance in employment and income generation within the EU, but a political importance well beyond its economic impact. The EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) has often been the source of conflict between the EU and its trade partners within first the GATT, and then the WTO. In the Doha Round agriculture was again a sticking point, resulting in setbacks and delays. The position of the EU is pivotal. Due to the comparatively limited competitiveness of the EU's agricultural sector, and the EU's institutionally constrained ability to undertake CAP reform, the CAP sets limits for agricultural trade liberalization blocking progress across the full compass of the WTO agenda. Therefore, the farm trade negotiation, with the CAP at its core, is the key to understanding the dynamics of trade rounds in the WTO. The book, written by a political scientist and an agricultural economist, applies theory on ideas to explain how the agricultural sector came to be included in the Single Undertaking that resulted in the Uruguay Round agreements, and how this led to a dynamic interplay between CAP reform and the possibility of further agricultural trade liberalization within the WTO, thereby providing useful insights into international trade relations.
Reviews / Votes
With the fate of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) round still unclear and the EU probably heading, once more, towards a reform of its policies for agriculture and rural development, the book by Daugdjerg and Swinbank provides timely and valuable food for thought. * Giovanni Anania, European Review of Agricultural Economics Vol 37 * there is much to admire in Daugbjerg and Swinbank's Ideas, Institutions and Trade - its focus on an area of trade policy often overlooked by political economists (i.e. agriculture); its attempt to interweave ideas and institutions into a narrative on European Union agricultural trade policy; and its attention to detail in the policy process ... as a framework for understanding the EU evolution in agricultural policy, Ideas, Institutions, and Trade is certainly a welcome and well-researched contribution to the literature on agricultural trade. * Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, West European Politics * In this relatively short and insightful book, Professors Daugbjerg and Swinbank have managed the considerable feat of making the changing international governance of agricultural trade in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the history of reforms of the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) interesting and rewarding for professional agricultural policy-watchers and non-specialists alike... Strongly recommended. * Adrian Kay, Australian National University, Australian Journal of Public Administration * The book is very stimulating and, in my opinion, a 'must' for those interested in the CAP policy reform process and multilateral trade negotiations. The set of the potential beneficiaries is quite ample, from graduate students who will find it a very good introduction to the evolution over time of agricultural trade negotiations and the forces behind them, to, at the other end of the spectrum, researchers into agricultural and trade policies and their making Trust me, even if not fully convinced by the analytical framework proposed in the book, you will certainly enjoy the read and benefit from it, as you will be forced to give the 'story' very well developed in the book serious thought and, in so doing, it will help clarify some of your own ideas. * Giovanni Anania, European Review of Agricultural Economics * offers a remarkably clear and insightful account of trade liberalization in agriculture. Daugbjerg and Swinbank's volume developing their previous work brings a comprehensive and innovative approach to develop our understanding of the complex structure of the EUs agricultural reform and its relationship with trade liberalization within Gatt/WTO * M. Sait Akman, Marmara University, writing for Journal of Common Market Studies * This book, by two of our most distinguished commentators on the process of agricultural policy reform, investigates the dynamic interrelationship between WTO farm trade negotiations and CAP reform...The analytical framework used by the authors gives us many useful insights, which alone make the book worth reading. * Alan Matthews, Professor of European Agricultural Policy, Trinity College, Dublin * The declared aim of this book, a collaborative endeavour between Carsten Daugbjerg, a political scientist, and Alan Swinbank, an agricultural economist, is to explain the pivotal role of agriculture, especially the EU's stance on farm policy, in international trade relations ... The authors are to be praised for the way they have managed to avoid the all-too-common issue of economic interests which are usually applied when explaining conflicts in international trade negotiations. They have succeeded admirably in their aim of applying ideas and institutions to explain the role of the EU farm policy in trade liberalisation. In sum, this book should be regarded as an important contribution to the political science literature, and therefore is highly recommended to those interested in EU policy making, agriculture and international trade. * Aukje van Loon, Ruhr University, in Political Studies Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
14 figures, 10 tables
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
552 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-955775-2 (9780199557752)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Carsten Daugbjerg is Professor of Trade and Food Policy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, where he has been since 1998. His research has focussed on agricultural policy (in particular reform of the Common Agricultural Policy: CAP), environmental policy, agricultural trade negotiations in the WTO, government-interest group relations and to a lesser extent EU food safety policy. He has had three books published and has published articles in international journals such as Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Governance, Journal of Public Policy, Environmental Politics, Australian Journal of Political Science and Scandinavian Political Studies.
Alan Swinbank recently retired as Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Reading, UK, where he had been since 1977. In the mid-1970s he spent four years as a junior administrator in the Directorate-General for Agriculture in the Commission of the European Communities. His research and teaching focussed on the food and farm policies of the EU, and on the WTO (World Trade Organization) process of agri-food trade liberalization. He has lectured and written extensively on these topics. In recent years he has published in the European Review of Agricultural Economics, the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Food Policy, the Journal of Common Market Studies, the Journal of World Trade, The World Economy, and others.
Alan Swinbank recently retired as Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Reading, UK, where he had been since 1977. In the mid-1970s he spent four years as a junior administrator in the Directorate-General for Agriculture in the Commission of the European Communities. His research and teaching focussed on the food and farm policies of the EU, and on the WTO (World Trade Organization) process of agri-food trade liberalization. He has lectured and written extensively on these topics. In recent years he has published in the European Review of Agricultural Economics, the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Food Policy, the Journal of Common Market Studies, the Journal of World Trade, The World Economy, and others.
Content
1. An Introduction to Agricultural Exceptionalism in EU Farm Policy and the GATT ; 2. Ideas, Institutions and Policy: a Theoretical Framework ; 3. WTO Rules for Agricultural Trade: GATT 1947 and the URAA ; 4. Explaining the erosion of agricultural exceptionalism in the Uruguay Round ; 5. Dispute Settlement and its Implication for Agricultural Exceptionalism ; 6. EU Agricultural Institutions and the CAP: Coping with GATT/WTO ; 7. Setting the Limits: CAP Reform and WTO Farm Trade Rules ; 8. Beyond Doha: Conclusions and Prospects