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Newsletter:
May 2004 EU Enlargement The existing European Union comprises of 15 countries namely Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg,
Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 1st May 2004 marks an extraordinary achievement for the
European Union with the accession of 10 new member countries i.e.
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic
and Slovenia.
The new Member States will share the European values and contribute
to the enlarged EU economic prosperity. They will benefit from the European
model of integration, aiming at harnessing economic forces to achieve peace,
stability and prosperity. In trade matters, the EU is a leading power
because it is united and speaks with one voice. With enlargement, this
single voice will represent ten additional countries. After 1 May, the enlarged EU will be a larger internal
market, and based on a single set of trade rules and an open economy. This
will not just benefit the new member states, but it will also constitute an
excellent opportunity for all third country partners, which will gain
facilitated access to the new member states, through either free trade
agreements, benefits of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
benefits, or tariffs which are generally significantly lower under the
Common Commercial Policy than in the acceding countries. The enlarged EU
will gain in economic importance with third countries and hence in
influence. There are also three candidate countries for accession which
are not joining the EU on 1st May:
Third countries will fully benefit from enlargement · An even larger market than before With a population of almost 455 million and a GDP of around
€9231 billion, the enlarged EU will account for some 19% of world trade
and be the source of 46% of world outward FDI and host to 24% of inward FDI. The current European Union is already the largest single
market in the world. There are no internal borders between the Member States
and the harmonisation of regulations and standards ensures a freer
circulation of goods and services than is possible within some countries.
Enlargement will extend these characteristics to the acceding countries. Third countries will benefit from an increased single market,
and a simplified and enhanced access to the current acceding countries’
markets. For textiles, the increased quotas will apply only until the
end of the year, after which all quotas on imports from WTO members will
cease to exist with the expiry of the WTO Multi-fiber Arrangements on 1
January 2005. · A single set of rules for business Enlargement will extend the EU’s trade policy regime to the
acceding countries. The current system, featuring a single trade regime for
the EU and a different regime for each of the candidates, will disappear. A
single set of trade rules, a single tariff, and a single set of
administrative procedures will apply not just across the existing fifteen
member states but across the enlarged Union of twenty-five. This will
greatly simplify the dealings that third country operators have within
Europe. Beyond the simplification of procedures, enlargement will
bring a range of immediate and tangible economic benefits to third
countries. These will arise out of the acceding countries adopting the same
open standard of treatment of third countries which the current EU applies. · A very open economy with a high standard of rules For trade in goods the new member states will have to adopt
the Community Common Customs Tariff (CCT) upon accession. The average
weighted industrial tariffs of the acceding countries are in general higher
than the 3.6% average for the EU. Thus, in most cases, third countries’
business will benefit from lower tariffs in their trade with new member
states. EU Basic Indicators
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