Regional Economic Integration

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. Regional Economic Integration can best be defined as an agreement between groups of countries in a geographic region, to reduce and ultimately remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production between each other. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol2/iss1/14 Regional Economic Integration By: Kati Cole, Russell Lyons, & Deborah Cary Regional Economic Integration can best be defined as an agreement between groups of countries in a geographic region, to reduce and ultimately remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production between each other. The following are examples of Regional Economic Integration: • NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)-An agreement among the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico. • EU (European Union)-A trade agreement with 15 European countries. • APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) This includes NAFT A members, Japan, and China. We are going to focus our discussion of regional economic integration on the European Union. The European Community was formed in 1952; it has now become the framework for the present European Union. The European Union is a trade agreement between 15 European countries. The Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992. From this treaty, a single market was formed on January 11, 1993. As the EU moves toward a closer economic union and a further enlargement, they plan on instituting a single currency called the Euro. With the promise of ultimately removing barriers and creating a free flow of goods between the European countries, the integration will create new opportunities and should show a substantial net gain from regional free trade agreements. LEVELS OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION The following are the levels of integration from least to most integrated: Free Trade, Customs Union, Common Market, Economic Union, and Political Union. With free trade, all the barriers to the trade of goods and services among member countries are removed. However, each country can determine its own trade policies with regard to nonmembers. Members are free to determine the level of protection applied to goods coming from the outside. Customs Union is one step closer to political and economic integration. This union also eliminates trade barriers between member countries and adopts a common .. ---Pol1ricol union