To what extent does the resolution of the 2005 so-called Bra War contribute to a better understanding of the Union's trade negotiation agenda?

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To what extent does the resolution of the 2005 so-called "Bra War" contribute to a better understanding of the Union's trade negotiation agenda?

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Abstract

This study does not aim at weighing the pros and the cons of EU's way of dealing with the impending Chinese textiles competition, nor does it try to assess European Member States' (MSs) ability to reach consensus during trade negotiation rounds. Building on Robert Putnam's heuristic "Two-level Game" (TLG) ; this study rather questions to what extent the resolution of the 2005 so-called "Bra War" contributes to a better understanding of the Union's trade negotiation agenda.

The 10 June 2005 bilateral EU/China "Shanghai Agreement " (SA) was a European response to two related factors: China's 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the impending ending of the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) .

As of 2005, not only should have China's textiles no longer be submitted to ATC quotas when entering the EU market, but what is more, they should have been logically included in the Union's Generalized System of Preferences' regime.

Negotiated within the 1985 China/EU Agreement framework , the SA reflected some MS worries about potential surges of Chinese textile exports to the EU, as well as their related willingness to curb those exports by arranging another EU-specific transition period between the end of the ATC regime and the forthcoming liberalization of the European market to Chinese textiles .

Extract

[...] EU Search engines Europa "EU - China textile agreement 10 June 2005", Europa, retrieved 18 October 2010, http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/05/201&format=HTML&aged=1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en. "EEC-China Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement", Europa, retrieved 18 October 2010: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/external_relations/relations_with_third_countries/asia/r14206_en.htm. Treaty office database, Europa, retrieved 6 November 2010, http://ec.europa.eu/world/agreements/prepareCreateTreatiesWorkspace/treatiesGeneralData.do?step=0&redirect=true&treatyId=1123. EURATEX "EU Textile and Clothing Industry leaders meet Trade Commissioner Mandelson", Press Release 22 March 2005, EURATEX, retrieved 6 November 2010, http://www.euratex.org/content/eu-textile-and-clothing-industry-leaders-meet-trade-commissioner-mandelson European Commission "Evolution of EU Textile Imports from China in 2005 and the first quarter of 2006", European Commission, Trade: textiles and footwear June 2006, retrieved 6 Novemeber 2010, http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=264&serie=193&langId=en. [...]

[...] According to Putnam's TLG pattern, the modeling of the negotiation context at hand implies two distinct levels. The first level depicts how textiles interest groups within each MSs worked at defending their interests. The second level displays MSs' respective position according to their textiles industries' weight at Council of Ministers' meetings. The degree to which MSs' opinions concurred framed Commissioner Mandelson and his experts' team winset at the international stage. Beyond the EU/Chinese negotiations' framework, Tony Blair (Council of the EU's President at that time) prominent role at the edges of the crisis will be assessed. [...]

[...] Electronic Newspapers BBC news N. Assinder, "Bra threatens Blair China talks", BBC News September 2005, retrieved 20 October 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4213110.stm. China daily "Sino-US textile agreement takes effect today", China daily, retrieved 20 October 2010, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/01/content_508498.htm. European Voice S. Fleming, "China could strike back in Bra Wars sequel", European Voice September 2005, retrieved 20 October 2010: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/imported/china-could-strike-back-in-bra-wars-sequel/52996.aspx. The Guardian M. White & D. Gow, "EU and China in 'bra wars' deal", The Guardian September 2005, retrieved 20 October 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/sep/06/politics.europeanunion. L. [...]

[...] By broadening it, two factors contributed to put an end to the textile deadlock. First, the fact that the SA provided an existing common basis for a facilitated consensus among MSs. Second, the fact that economically and diplomatically speaking, the costs of a longstanding dispute with China were too high. While at the first level, EURATEX and the FTA were trying to maintain the pressure through the HLG; at the second level, MSs realized how detrimental to the European/Chinese diplomatic and commercial relations the jamming of several millions of Chinese garments at European customs could be13, especially at the eve of the annual EU/China summit. [...]

[...] Comino, Dragon in Cheap Clothing: What Lessons can be learned from the EU-China Textile Dispute?", European Law Journal, vol no November 2007, pp. 818-838. M. Montanari, "The Barcelona Process and the Political Economy of Euro-Mediterranean Trade Integration", Journal of Common Market Studies, vol no pp 1011-1040. P. Nedergaard, "European Union Import Quotas on Chinese Textile and Clothing Exports in 2005: A Panic-Driven Commission or Rational Explanations?", Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, vol no March 2009, pp.17-47. R. D. Putnam, "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games", International Organization, vol no summer 1988, pp. [...]

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