EURUS Professor Crina Viju has been awarded a prestigious Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in the 2014 competition. Her research project is titled “Are the Central and Eastern European Countries Winners of the European Union Shift in Trade Policy?” It examines the impacts of the EU’s new generation of free trade agreements (FTAs) on the economic welfare of Central and Eastern European EU member states.
The EU has in recent years reoriented its Common Commercial Policy to focus on new generation FTAs. The first round of such agreements is with South Korea, India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as Canada. Negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the US were launched in February 2013. The recently concluded agreements (with South Korea and Canada) provide commitments that go beyond the provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including the elimination of most tariff and non-tariff barriers as well as the harmonization of human rights, labour, and environmental standards.
Studies released by the Directorate General Trade of the European Commission estimate economic benefits for the EU and all the other parties involved in the negotiations. However, these studies focus on the aggregate economic effects at the EU level and not at the member state level, which is the main focus of Professor Viju’s research. By shedding light on the effects of FTAs on Central and Eastern European EU member states, her project will increase understanding of the link between economic transition, economic development and deepened economic relations.