IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/liu/liucej/v3y2006i2p171-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade in Southeast Europe : recent trends and some policy implications

Author

Listed:
  • Milica Uvalic

Abstract

Trade liberalisation in Southeast Europe (SEE) has been strongly promoted by the European Union (EU) in recent years, as part of its initiatives aimed at stimulating regional cooperation among the SEE countries. The Stabilisation and Association Process launched in 1999 for the five countries of the so-called western Balkans - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro - explicitly requires the implementation of regional cooperation as a condition for speeding up the process of EU integration. In the area of economic cooperation, trade liberalisation has become one of the principal instrument for promoting these objectives. A Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Liberalisation and Facilitation was signed on 27 June 2001 in Brussels by the Foreign Trade Ministers of SEE countries, which envisaged the conclusion of bilateral free trade agreements. The paper analyses recent trends in trade of the SEE countries. Some general features of the SEE region in 1989 are first presented (section 2). The impact of the political and economic events of the 1990s on trade relations among the SEE countries is then considered (section 3). Trade patterns of the SEE countries over the last five years are analysed in some detail (section 4). Some controversial issues raised in recent debates on trade liberalisation in SEE are also discussed, explaining why interpretations sometimes differ (section 5). The main conclusions and some policy implications are given at the end (section 6).

Suggested Citation

  • Milica Uvalic, 2006. "Trade in Southeast Europe : recent trends and some policy implications," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 3(2), pages 171-195, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:liu:liucej:v:3:y:2006:i:2:p:171-195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ejce.liuc.it/18242979200602/182429792006030202.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jože P. Damijan & Igor Masten, 2002. "Time Dependent Efficiency of Free Trade Agreements - The Case of Slovenia and the CEFTA Agreement," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 147-160.
    2. Will Bartlett, 2009. "Regional integration and free-trade agreements in the Balkans: opportunities, obstacles and policy issues," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 25-46, May.
    3. Neil Foster-McGregor & Vladimir Gligorov & H.Y. Liu & Johannes Pöschl & Joanna Poznanska & Kazimierz Poznanski & Robert Stehrer, 2011. "Monthly Report No. 3/2011," wiiw Monthly Reports 2011-03, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    4. Jane Miljovski & Vanco Uzunov, 2002. "International and Regional Economic Integration in South East Europe: The Case of Macedonia," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 19, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    5. Edward Christie, 2001. "Potential Trade in Southeast Europe: A Gravity Model Approach," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 11, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amir Hadziomeragic & Malgorzata Jakubiak & Nermin Oruc & Wojciech Paczynski, 2007. "Regional Free Trade Agreements of Bosnia and Herzegovina: analysis and policy recommendations," CASE Network Reports 0069, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    2. Viola Tanto, 2016. "The International Company and Tax Avoidance," European Journal of Economics and Business Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 2, ejes_v2_i.
    3. Uvalic, Milica, 2010. "Transition in Southeast Europe: Understanding Economic Development and Institutional Change," WIDER Working Paper Series 041, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2008. "Quo Vadis Southeast Europe? EU Accession, Regional Cooperation and the need for a Balkan Development Strategy," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 10, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    5. Mulaj, Isa, 2009. "Trade regimes, investment promotion and export prospects in the Western Balkans," MPRA Paper 38143, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Milica Uvalic, 2010. "Transition in Southeast Europe: Understanding Economic Development and Institutional Change," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-041, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jelena Trivic & £ukasz Klimczak, 2015. "The determinants of intra-regional trade in the Western Balkans," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 33(1), pages 37-66.
    2. Marjan Petreski, 2013. "Southeastern European Trade Analysis: A Role for Endogenous CEFTA-2006?," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 26-44, September.
    3. Sklias, Pantelis & Tsampra, Maria, 2011. "Assessing regional integration and business potential in the Western Balkans," MPRA Paper 36341, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. repec:osf:socarx:etmzk_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Vladimir Gligorov & Mario Holzner & Michael A Landesmann, 2004. "Prospects for Further (South-) Eastern EU Enlargement: From Divergence to Convergence?," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Michael A Landesmann & Dariusz K Rosati (ed.), Shaping the New Europe, chapter 12, pages 315-345, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Joze Damijan & José de Sousa & Olivier Lamotte, 2010. "Trade Liberalization in Southeastern Europe," Chapters, in: Robert E.B. Lucas & Lyn Squire & T. N. Srinivasan (ed.), Global Exchange and Poverty, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Mojsoska-Blazevski, Nikica & Petreski, Marjan, 2010. "Western Balkan’s trade with the EU and CEFTA-2006: Evidence from Macedonian data," MPRA Paper 41942, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Vedran Sosic & Boris Vujcic, 2005. "Trade integration and Croatian accession to the European Union," Chapters in books, in: Katarina Ott (ed.), Croatian Accession to the European Union: Facing the Challenges of Negotiations, volume 3, chapter 3, pages 61-84, Institute of Public Finance.
    9. International Monetary Fund, 2005. "Serbia and Montenegro: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix," IMF Staff Country Reports 2005/232, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Sadok ACHOUR & Dr. Fatima HADJI, 2021. "Determinants of trade flows to Agadir Agreement countries: gravity model three-way approach," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(2(627), S), pages 125-134, Summer.
    11. Mahesh K. Chaulagai, Ph.D., 2014. "Indo-Nepal Trade Relation: The Phenomenon of Black Hole Effect," NRB Economic Review, Nepal Rastra Bank, Economic Research Department, vol. 26(1), pages 44-57, April.
    12. Enrique Martínez-Galán & Maria-Paula Fontoura & Isabel Proença, 2005. "Trade Potential In An Enlarged European Union: A Recent Approach," International Trade 0508011, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Libman, Alexander, 2008. "Federalism and regionalism in transition countries: A survey," MPRA Paper 29196, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Grupe, Claudia & Kušić, Siniša, 2005. "Intra-regional cooperation in the Western Balkans: under which conditions does it foster economic progress?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 23373, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Mario Holzner, 2004. "GSIM Measurement of the Costs of Protection in Southeast Europe," wiiw Balkan Observatory Working Papers 55, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    16. Nina Ranilović, 2017. "The Effects of Economic Integration on Croatian Merchandise Trade: A Gravity Model Study," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 59(3), pages 382-404, September.
    17. Sklias, Pantelis & Tsampra, Maria, 2012. "Towards an analytical framework of regional integration in Western Balkans," MPRA Paper 36504, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Krasniqi, Besnik & Ahmetbasić, Jasmina & Bartlett, Will, 2022. "Foreign direct investment and backward spillovers in the Western Balkans: the context, opportunities and barriers to the development of regional supply chains," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115391, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Shahrun Nizam Abdul-Aziz & Normala Zulkifli & Norimah Rambeli@Ramli & Noor Al-Huda Abdul Karim & Zainizam Zakariya & Norasibah Abdul Jalil, 2019. "The Determinations of East Asia¡¯s Automobile Trade Using a Gravity Model," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(5), pages 113-128, December.
    20. Mahesh K. Chaulagai Ph.D., 2013. "Indo-Nepal Trade Relation: The Phenomenon of Black Hole Effect," NRB Working Paper 19/2013, Nepal Rastra Bank, Research Department.
    21. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Marko Stermšek, 2014. "The economics of secession. Analysing the economic impact of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia," Working Papers. Collection A: Public economics, governance and decentralization 1408, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade flows; Trade liberalisation; Economic integration; Regional cooperation; EU policies towards Southeast Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P33 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - International Trade, Finance, Investment, Relations, and Aid
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:liu:liucej:v:3:y:2006:i:2:p:171-195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Laura Ballestra (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/liuccit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.