A82640 The Economics and Law of International Trade

At the end of the course the student will be able:

a)   to gain a profound insight into the economic aspects of European integration and into EU trade policies;

b)   to assess the risks facing European companies within the context of international competition;

c)  to leverage, through the most appropriate channels, on international laws and rules in order to maximize EU firms’ access to foreign markets.

Students will learn how:

1. to analyse the trade environment within which EU firms operate;

2. to assess  the market access to the various partners of the European Union;

3. to think about alternative  firms' strategies vis-à-vis different trade policies;

4. to  organize  collective public presentations.

The course aims at analyzing the trade context within which the European Union has to operate  and at providing the critical knowledge needed to deal with each of the following broad issues:

• the main stages of European integration as they relate to commercial issues; 
• the EU trade policy in its various strands: multilateral, bilateral and unilateral
• the new trade policy of the European Union;
• the trade slump as related to the Great Recession;
• the dangers of protectionism; 
•  the structure of the WTO and the agreements forming the WTO system;
•  the Doha Round and the commercial interests of the various countries;
• the balancing between trade and non-trade issues.

The course will run under a workshop format, including formal lectures by the instructor and presentations by the students, who are required to offer an active participation. Some case studies involving the European Union in trade disputes will be discussed in class. Materials will be posted on the net before classes. Students are responsible for consulting on a regular basis the website of the course on “my.liuc.it”, where updates, additional material and slides about the course are posted. Students are responsible for knowing the content of the material before coming to class and for providing meaningful contributions to the discussion led by the instructor. In preparing for lectures students are strongly encouraged to extend their study beyond required readings to related papers or newspaper articles. All the most important and cutting-edge contemporary issues will be subject for discussion.

In your own interest and of your colleagues, please strictly observe the following courtesy rules:

1. Arrive in class on time; do not leave early without prior explicit instructor’s approval

2. Keep your mobiles and laptops off; do not chat with your classmates

3. Do not wander in and out of the classroom

4. Prepare presentations and hand in assignments (if any) on time. No late submissions are allowed.

Slides provided by the lecturer.

Additional materials from specific web pages of international organizations (European Union, WTO, OECD, UNCTAD, World Bank, IMF); news from: The Economist, Financial Times

Plus parts of the following books:

Senior Nello, Susan, The European Union, McGraw-Hill, 3^rd Ed., 2011.

M. J. Trebilcock; R. Howse, The Regulation of International Trade, 3^rd Ed., London, 2005.

P. Van Den Bossche, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization. Text, Cases, Materials. 2^nd Ed., Cambridge, 2008.

Changes in the readings for students attending classes may be announced during the course.

Grade is based on a final written exam (70%) and on class participation, including students’ presentations (30%).