IMO harmonisation of even the personal tax and social security systems are needed for real EU Single Market, one that works for the SMEs (and people)
Thus:
IMO common or single markets or even trade lead inevitably to political union between participating countries
Hence:
1) WTO (World Trade Organisation) membership should lead in eventual political union between member countries, same for the EU
2) the only way IMO to preserve national sovereignty is to abstain from trade (economic fortress model)
3) the other way is "shared sovereignty" via effective representation in EU, WTO, etc etc thus, again, political union
3 comments:
Based on the text International Marketing (13th edition)by Philip Cateora & John Graham there are 5 stages in the patterns of regional cooperation. They vary in the degree of cooperation, dependence and interrelationship. They are:
1. Regional Cooperation Groups
(These are often formed around a shared resource for like, for example, a hydroelectric dam where the watershed spans two boundaries.)
2. Free Trade Area
(These are formed to reduce customs, duties and NTBs between member nations.)
3. Customs Union
(These include the above and add an external tariff)
4. Common Market
(These include the above and include harmonization of external tariffs and NTBs plus adds the free flow of goods between the member nations.)
5. Political Union
(These include all of the above and also include political unification.)
A consideration of sovereignty should be seen within the context of this pattern of progressively integrated models.
Thanks for the input. This is I guess one way of identifying "levels of regional cooperation", but I am not sure I would use these 5. For one thing, IMO, nearly all of those levels have policy, political and legislative impact. See eg the cases brought against governments by companies in NAFTA and CAFTA that show that even a free trade area membership means loss of sovereignty. Same thing will UN, ILO, and other bodies that these 5 levels do not cover.
Another example: The European Union is much more than a Common Market or even a Single Market, but short of a Political Union.
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