The European Union & the Commodity Debate: From Trade to Aid

Jan Orbie

Review of African Political Economy, 2007, vol. 34, issue 112, 297-311

Abstract: This article departs from the renewed interest in commodity market regulation and assesses the position of the European Union (EU) on supply-management in tropical commodities. After sketching the resurgence of the commodity debate on the international trade front, the second section recapitulates the thesis that Europe's trade relations shifted from innovative and interventionist arrangements in the 1970s, to a neo-liberal outlook by the end of the 1990s. Based on this historical account, we examine whether the EU's role has changed during the commodity debate since 2003-2004. The analysis makes clear that, although EU policy-makers and institutions have addressed the issue, supply-management schemes are not considered. Without challenging the mainstream approach to commodity trade, Europe's initiatives with regard to 1) export stabilisation, 2) commodity protocols and 3) market access rather show an evolution ‘from trade to aid’. The article concludes with a number of explanations for this recent shift.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1080/03056240701449695

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Review of African Political Economy is currently edited by Graham Harrison, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Claire Mercer, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Aurelia Segatti and Ray Bush

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