International Organisations

There has been a huge surge in the amount of regional trading blocks found all over the world, they take many forms, the most well known is the EU, which is now very much known as a customs union. For the purposes of this essay the EU will be looked at as a ‘Regional Trading Block’. The World Trade Organisation has deemed these trading blocks as acceptable. The EU is a member of the WTO, but to what extent does the EU threaten the main aim of the WTO, which is to create a multilateral trading system. The aim of this essay is to compare and contrast the aims of these two international organizations, in order to see if these organisations are a hindrance or a help to each other. Each organisation will be discussed in turn looking at their aims and the extent to which they have achieved their aims, both organisations will then be compared and specific arguments will be highlighted in order to draw a conclusion. These particular organisations have been chosen due to there similar yet conflicting aims which I hope to explore.

There are many different types of trading blocks; preferential trading areas where there are lower trade barriers for countries within that trading block, free trade areas where there are no barriers, and customs unions where there are no trade barriers and they have a common external barrier. The EU is a free trade area and a customs union, however it is unique from all other regional trading blocks, as it goes much further than focusing solely on trade; it requires far more commitment. The member states of the EU are required to give up some of their powers voluntary, this is a very rare thing to see within the world today. It is so unique that there has been a lot of debate over what it should be called, it has been advised that the best course is to “leave it to future historians to find an appropriate label.” In order to understand how the EU developed in this way it is important to examine the history and external factors that