Customs Union
Customs Union in Europe
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Agreements As Preparation for Accession To the Union Or for the Establishment of A Customs Union
Content about Customs Union from the publication "The ABC of European Union law" (2010, European Union) by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt.
Association arrangements are also used in the preparation of countries for possible membership of the Union. The arrangement serves as a preliminary stage towards accession during which the applicant country can work on converging its economy with that of the EU.
Description of Customs union
The Concise Publication of the European Union describes customs union in the following terms: [1] An area with free internal trade but common external tariffs or quotas. In the context of the World Trade Organisation (formerly the GATT), a customs unionis a permitted exception, as a regional trading arrangement, to the rules forbidding discrimination. In post-war Europe, Benelux was the first example, followed in 1957 by the European Economic Community, or Common Market, set up to establish a customs union in traded goods between its six member states.
The UK's initial caution about joining the Common Market was largely based on its Commonwealth links, including preferential tariffs and cheap food, and its belief in free trade (see more in this European publication). These features were incompatible with the protectionist Common Agricultural Policy and the European customs union. In the event, the UK sacrificed Commonwealth preference to join the Community; but the feared high level of trade barriers did not materialise, for over the years industrial tariffs were sharply reduced throughout the developed world.
The persistence of non-tariff distortions, such as subsidies, state monopolies and purchasing discrimination, means that the underlying purpose of the European customs union - to create a perfect internal market - remains uncompleted. Nevertheless, it has formidable achievements to its credit and was largely responsible for the remarkable growth of the Community in the 1960s.
Resources
Notas y References
Based on the book "A Concise Publication of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein", by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)
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