Student guide Facoltą di Economia A.A. 2009/10

The economics and law of international trade
Lesson timetable, Notice board, Additional material
Lecturers
BORLINI LEONARDO
GRAZIANI GIOVANNI
Aim of the course

The course aims at analysing the trade context within which the European Union has to operate. In particular it stresses the main stages of European integration as they relate to commercial issues.  The aim is to allow the students to understand the most important EU policies in the field of international trade.

Syllabus
Module 1: Europe in World Trade
1.  Europe in the world economy.
2.  EU institutions and their role in the formulation of trade policy.
3.  The stages of economic integration and the EU customs union.
4.  The Single Market and trade.
5.  The EU trade policy: evolving positions in the Doha Round.
6.  EU trade and investment policies towards the US.
7.  EU trade and investment policies towards the developing countries.
8.  The new trade policy of the European Union: Global Europe, Market Access Strategy and Raw Materials Initiative.
9. The recent enlargements and their possible impact on trade policy.
10. Potential effects of the international financial and economic crisis: towards new forms of protectionism?
 
Module 2: International Trade Law
  • Economic Globalization and the Law of the WTO
  • The Evolution of International Economic Organizations since Bretton Woods: An Overview. 
  • From GATT to WTO.
  • The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO.
  • The WTO Single Undertaking
  • Other Sources of WTO Law .
Seminar prepared by Students. The IMF: An Overview
  • The WTO institutional framework: negotiations, surveillance and dispute settlement
  • Focus on the Dispute Settlement System
WTO/GATT: main principles
  • MFN
  • National Treatment
  • Prohibition of quotas
  • Regional Integration: Overview of rules
Seminar: Case Law Presented by Students (Two Groups)
Topics: Special and differential treatment for developing countries
WTO/GATT: the main exceptions. The relationship between trade and other social values and interests (environment, human and social rights, etc.)
Seminar: Case law presented by students (Two Groups)
Topics: The “like-products” concept in GATT
MFN/National Treatment and General Exceptions
The regulation of subsidies and countervailing duties. Dumping and antidumping.
 
 
Seminars:
The following seminars are envisaged:
1)      IMF Overview
2)      Generalized System of Preferences: India v. EU case
3)      The advance of regionalism and the global trading system
4)      The “like-products” concept in GATT: The Asbestos case
5)      MFN/National Treatment and General Exceptions
 
Small group students will prepare each seminar by written memos, oral presentation and discussion.

Examinations
Module 1:
Written.
 
Module 2:
Students will be assessed through their participation in the class and their oral and written contribution to seminars. The final exam will be written.

Reading list

Module 1:
Senior Nello, Susan, The European Union, McGraw-Hill, second edition, 2009 and materials to be provided by the lecturer.
 
Module 2:
Textbook:
United Nations Conference On Trade And Development; Course on Dispute Settlement; available at: http://r0.unctad.org/disputesettlement/course.htm
Basic Reference:
The WTO Agreements and texts of Panels and Appellate Body Reports (www.wto.org)
Further Readingas:
M. J. TREBILCOCK; R. HOWSE, The Regulation of International Trade, 3rd Edt., 2005, Routledge.
P. Van DEN BOSSCHE, The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization. Text, Cases, Materials. 2nd Edt. Cambridge Universit Press.
M. MATSUSHITA, T. J. SCHOENBAUM, P. C. MAVROIDIS, The World Trade Organization: Law, Practice, and Policy, September 2006, Oxford University Press.
J .E. STIGLITZ, Making Globalization works, WW Norton, September, 2006.
J. BHAGWATI, In Defence of Globalization, Oxford University Press, 2004.
J .E. STIGLITZ, Globalization and its Discontents, WW Norton & Company, June 2002.
Z. BAUMAN, Globalization. The Human Consequence. Columbia University Press, 1998.