CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Adam, Isabelle |
|---|---|
| Title | The Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the East African Community - Case study on Kenya's and Tanzania's trade preferences |
| Summary | The present thesis deals with the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) concluded in 2014 between the European Union and the East African Community (EAC). The process of its implementation, which requires regional unanimity, has since been stalled due to diverging positions on trade liberalisation of the EAC countries. In particular, Kenya supports liberalisation through the EPA and signed it single-handedly, while Tanzania opposes it, referring inter alia to the protection of domestic industries. How can these opposing positions on trade liberalisation in the form of the EPA be explained? In an attempt to answer this question, this thesis looks at a number of economic and political factors that are expected, based on literature and theory from the field of International Political Economy, to exert an influence on states’ trade preferences. In order to account for the multiple layers and of factors forming trade preferences, the thesis attempts to draw the big picture with micro-, meso-, and macro-level analyses of comparative trade profiles, economic-political power linkages and regional political bargaining. The evidence used to fill the picture with details draws on primary and secondary literature, economic data, and expert interviews. Based on the results, it appears that Tanzania’s EPA opposition hinges on its limited gains from the Agreement due to being a LDC with permanent free EU market access. This reason is complemented by the country’s historically weak industrialisation, defiance of market-liberalism and deeper regional integration; as well as its current industrialisation strategy and protectionist policies, on which economic actors have limited influence. In contrast, Kenya’s EPA support appears to be rooted in the threat of losing free EU market access as a non-LDC in combination with the historical background of industrialisation and market-liberal ideology; as well as the current economic policy of furthering external trade and deepening regional integration, in which economic actors potentially have a voice. |
| Supervisor | Bodenstein, Thilo; Bianculli, Andrea |
| Department | School of Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/adam_isabelle.pdf |
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