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:

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

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

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

    d. 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 place of Europe in the global value chains;
• the EU trade policy in its various strands: multilateral, bilateral and unilateral;
• the new trade policy of the European Union;
• the dangers of protectionism; 
• the 1930s depression leading to the GATT and Bretton Woods;
• the essentials of the GATT and of the WTO;
• the role of trade law in the global economy.

The course will run under a workshop format, including formal lectures by the instructors 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 instructors. 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.

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