BANANAS: WORK UNDER WAY TO EXTEND EU TRADE REGIME TO HEW MEMBER STATES

摘要

When the ten new EU Member States join the EU on May 1, taking on the EU's trade polity means being included in the unique and historically much-disputed EU banana trade regime. And if the last enlargement, in 7995, is anything to go by, it will be easier said than done. With a bit more than 50 days left before enlargement, work is still to be done to define the extent to which the EU's current import quota volumes will be increased to reflect an EU of 25 rather than 15. The Commission announced on March 5 a number of procedural steps it is taking with this in mind. In any event, the quota arrangements will be transitional in nature, as the EU has already agreed that there will be a switch to a tariff-only banana import regime from January 1, 2006 at the latest. But this has not prevented some smaller banana-producing countries from airing concerns about the detrimental effect that the changes could have on banana prices in the EU and ultimately on their trade with it.