Measuring the costs of protection in Europe : European commercial policy in the 2000s

Trade protection costs the European Community between 6 and 7 percent of its grossdomestic product, or the equivalent of the annual economic output of Spain. Continuingthe Institute's series on trade protection in major countries (which already includes theUnited States, Japan, Korea, and China), this study by Patrick A. Messerlin is the firstattempt to measure the impact of all types of protection in the European Union.Patrick A. Messerlin uses partial equilibrium methods to assess the costs to consumersand to evaluate the political economy of European protection. He also examines in detailthe intricate relations between the major EC domestic policies—from the CommonAgricultural Policy to the Single Market in services—and EC commercial policy. He aimsto assess their dynamic evolution for the decade to come, which will be marked by thefirst accessions of Central European countries to the EC and by the debate on theEuropean political union. The study provides a valuable agenda for the upcoming roundof WTO negotiations and underlines their role as a support for domestic reforms that theEC should undertake for its own benefit.