11 - Western Europe and the New International Economic Order

Abstract

This chapter focuses on various impact of New International Economic Order (NIEO) in Western Europe. Western Europe includes 27 of the 37 territories on the European continent, the other 10 being the Eastern European states. The economies of Western Europe are very open; their external trade in relation to GNP is 40%—twice that of Japan and more than three times that of the United States. The Netherlands has effectively established a link between general industrial structural adjustment and the interests of developing countries, while West Germany could be said to be less inclined to follow this policy. An analysis of the developmental tendencies of the world economy, and the economic and social effects and manifestations of these tendencies in Western Europe permit to predict the alternatives for action available to the countries of Western Europe in regard to the objectives of the NIEO.