Welthandelsordnung, regionale Teilordnungen und interregionale Klammerordnungen: Die handelspolitische Präsenz der EU in einer globalisierten und regionalisierten Weltwirtschaft

The article focuses on interdependencies between the multilateral trade order and regional and inter-regional partial orders. The tendency towards globalization has been reinforced with the institutionalization of the WTO. At the same time, regional cooperation and integration has also spread. The levels of action do not refer only to European integration, to NAFTA or to initiatives in exporting models from the EU and the USA; they also refer to the new movement of regionalism among developing countries which will enhance the co-operation among the states of the South. The interaction between globalism and regionalism is seen in two ways: One view holds that a concurrent elimination of barriers to trade on the regional level will bring about a gradual liberalization and adjustment of regulatory systems on the multilateral level, too. The opposite view holds that regionalization - particularly in a competitive commercial environment - is disruptive for the multilateral trade system. Both views stress the challenges for the WTO, especially the limits of its regulatory and disciplinary powers.The EU/EC plays an important role both in the multilateral system and in a regional context. The EU supports the so-called „Millennium Round“ of the WTO, maintains an extensive network of special relations with third states and has promoted regional integration in the Third World as an „horizontal instrument“ of its development policy. It has set up inter-regional orders to foster transregional co-operation as an instrument of trade or development policy. The attractiveness of the EC model is due inter alia to its experience in matters of integration, to its importance as a trade partner and to its commitments concerning development policy.