Workshop: The EU’s trade and development policies in a changing global environment

ARENA Centre for European Studies will host a workshop on justice, trade and development in Oslo on 14-15 March 2019.

Global economic inequalities are major sources of injustice. The EU has significant economic power both by the size of its aid budget and through trade agreements securing access to the European market. Yet, the EU is also under pressure to secure its own position in an increasingly competitive global economy. The risk of dominance is evident, as the EU could potentially dictate the terms of trade with its partners in the developing world. But a policy of redistribution (developmental aid) may not fare much better. New types of injustices appear when living conditions are determined by the benevolence of a dominating agent.  Is it possible to square solidarity for the deprived ones with pressure for competitiveness within the framework of a liberal world order. How well does the EU fare in conceiving of its duties with regard to ensuring a more just economic order at the global level? What voice has been given to the affected parties?

We look at these overarching research questions through analyses of the following main themes:

• The EU’s trade policy with the ACP: the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements move forward. In February 2018 the SADC EPA became the first fully operational African EPA. This move begs renewed research on EU and ACP perspectives on the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations.
• The EU’s development policy; we welcome papers comparing and contrasting the principles underpinning the EU’s aid policies with those of the other donors in the Global Norths such as the United States and ‘new actors’ in the global development scene such as China, Brazil and South Africa.
• The EU’s aid for trade initiative: The EU’s newly reformed AfT voices an increased focus on helping Least Developed Countries benefit from trade agreements while also increase funding for development from the private sector. To what extent is catalytic aid an answer to developing countries plea to end aid dependency?

Programme

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For questions, contact info@globus.uio.no or Johanne Saltn