Publications

Since negotiations to conclude the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Agenda stalled in 2008, the main efforts by the EU to liberalise trade have been undertaken in the context of regional trade agreements (RTAs). As a result, there has been growing interest in how effective they are in terms of stimulating trade. Another motivation for this report comes from the observation that almost all positive welfare effects related to trade agreements require more economic integration and international division of labour, i.e. trade. With these considerations in mind, the purpose of this work is to analyse the effects of EU RTAs on trade in goods.

In this report, the National Board of Trade describes the evolution of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). We identify new production trends and discuss how they will affect international trade.

Recent trade agreements (TAs) negotiated by the EU systematically include provisions on trade and sustainable development (TSD) in the form of a separate chapter. 

The main objective of this handbook is to facilitate the implementation of the chapter on trade and sustainable development of the TA between the EU and its Member States and Ecuador.

The handbook provides step-by-step guidelines for implementation and provides some examples and best practices developed by the EU and its trade partners in the framework of previously implemented TAs.

This handbook is part of the EU’s efforts to improve the implementation of the TSD chapters in EU trade agreements, as set out in the European Commission’s 15-point action plan for TSD implementation.

This handbook is also available in Spanish: Manual de implementación del Título de Comercio yDesarrollo Sostenible (CDS) del Acuerdo Comercial entre la Unión Europea y Ecuador

The correct application of EU rules is paramount for the functioning of the Single Market. Yet, as discussed in our earlier report In quest of compliance,  the EU Member States do not fully comply with the Single market’s rules and principles. This, in turn, creates significant problems for citizens and companies and prevents the Single Market from fully delivering projected benefits. 

In the present paper, the National Board of Trade discusses an ambitious decentralisation reform of the enforcement of EU law as a means to reduce the compliance deficit in the EU. 
We explore the idea of setting up National Enforcement Agencies in each Member States. Entrusted with the task of investigating local infringements of the Single Market rules, these agencies would also have the possibility to bring cases before the national courts. This reform would enable to solve local compliance problems at the local level and also reassert the Member States’ ownership of the Single Market.

This is a brief summary of the report Sverige i EU (Sweden in the EU). The full version is only available in Swedish.

Sverige i EU (full report)

In the report the National Board of Trade presents and comments a large amount of statistics on trade, investments, freedom of movement, economic growth and productivity. The aim is to illustrate how the Swedish economy has developed during the last decades, with a certain focus on the development after becoming member of the EU and part of the internal market.

Sweden’s openness to the rest of the world, measured as the proportion of foreign trade in GDP, has more than doubled in the past 50 years.

This is a paper about investment screening mechanisms in four Nordic countries. The paper serves as basis for a discussion on the topic of  'European origins – the EU Member States' Rules on Screening Foreign Investment' at the research conference 'A Common European Law on Investment Screening' in Gothenburg on 7–8 March 2019.

The number of Free-Trade Agreements (FTAs) continues to grow and increasingly set the rules for world trade. The effects of these agreements go beyond the contracting parties and also extend to third countries. This has often been seen as negative because trade diversion, caused by tariff preferences, distorts trade and discriminates against third countries.

However, a specific FTA is not necessarily negative for a third country that is not party to the actual agreement. The long-term dynamic effects might serve to multilateralise FTAs and FTAs might also spur unilateral trade liberalisation. Notwithstanding any speculation about such effects, a lot of FTA provisions could benefit third countries in various ways. It is these potential benefits that are the focus of this study.

In July 2018, the UK government published a policy paper with proposals for what the future relationship between the UK and the EU should look like. The policy paper should be seen as the UK’s opening bid for negotiations on the future relationship.

The analysis covers those areas of the policy paper that fall within
the scope of the National Board of Trade's area of expertise – the EU
single market, international trade and trade policy.

This is a summary in English of our more detailed analysis in Swedish of the proposals in the UK policy paper: Storbritanniens vitbok om den framtida relationen med EU - en analys av förslagen

Brexit will affect Swedish financial services suppliers. Potentially, the up-coming negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom (UK) can soften any potential negative impact. The aim of this report is to identify the trade model that best minimizes these negative effects. The findings are based only on trade concerns; other policy goals are not taken into account.