On some Political Aspects of Free Trade Agreements: Hungary and the FTAs

自由貿易協定的政治面向：匈牙利與自由貿易協定

范德(Janos Vandor)

《Taiwanese Journal of WTO Studies》 26期 (2014/12) Pp. 53-113

https://doi.org/10.30392/TJWTOS.201412_(26).0002

摘要

打從國際關係的初始，「貿易」就一直是國際合作的基礎。貿易本身並不僅止於一項經濟行動，而同時有政治、安全等內涵，因此必須被以跨學科的角度加以研究。本文的第一部分著重在經濟合作的政治及安全面向－尤其是貿易和經濟因素扮演重要角色的國際、區域整合方面。儘管政治學者和經濟學者皆對國與國之間貿易和商業關係作出正面評價，但國際關係的錯綜複雜使人不得不注意貿易的另一個面向。本文的第二部分將會檢視FTAs的正反面向。歐盟的貿易政策是屬於共同政策的一部分，但並不表示個別成員國有相同的利益或遵循相同策略。匈牙利在全球經濟中位於較為弱勢的地位，即使在歐盟中也只是屬於中等大小的成員國，因此，匈牙利從FTAs中獲利的機會也同樣受限。在本文的最後部分將會檢視決定匈牙利角色的重要因素和其角色之定位。

關鍵字

匈牙利 ； 歐洲聯盟 ； 歐洲整合 ； 區域整合 ； 國際貿易 ； 自由貿易協定 ； 安全考量 ； 互賴

並列摘要

Trade has been the foundation of international cooperation ever since the dawn of international relations. The free, or freer flow of products can enhance economic growth and consequently well-being either in a positive or a negative way, first of all depending on whether an actor is 'insider' or 'outsider'. Not least as its consequence trade has frequently served as the prime cause of great inter-state confrontations. The conclusion can be drawn that trade in itself is not simply an economic action but one that has many- political, security and naturally also economic- connotations and so it must be studied in an interdisciplinary manner. In the first part of this paper attention will be paid to the political and security aspects of economic cooperation with out of the ordinary regard to global conditions, and the political and security elements involved in the liberalization process. Also particular attention will be dedicated to international/regional integrations where- at least seemingly, but just seemingly- trade and economic elements play the decisive role. With the social and economic development of human societies, and not least as the consequence of globalization and the advancement of international relations (IR) inter-state cooperation has become ever more complex and the gradual elevation of the complexity of inter-state relations can be reflected through the different levels of closeness, in other words of the interdependence of the different political entities. In this process trade is but one of the prime movers of development and at different times it played different roles. This can be clearly seen and reflected through the different forms, modalities, and depth of economic ties. Though trade and commercial relations, in general, are positively valued by both political scientists and economists it is frequently forgotten that every coin has two sides and even in this field of IR the complex set of conditions determine who can gain and who might lose. And while states strengthen their cooperation with partners in order to enhance their capabilities to defend economic (and political, security, etc.) interests and certainly to benefit from joint efforts, the outcome of collaboration depends very much on the conditions prevailing both inside and outside of the individual actors. Free trade agreements do not make exceptions: some will gain, some will lose. That's why it is so difficult to come to terms among the parties concerned. The second part of the study will be devoted to the examination of both sides of the FTA-coin. Trade policy with the European Union is one of the so called common (Community) policies where significant part of state sovereignty has been transferred to the EU. It doesn't mean, however, that the individual MSs have identical interests and follow identical strategies or does not have- rather limited- scope of independent actions. The interest-representation capability of the individual Member States, that is, the realization of their national interest and aspirations depend on their unique (power) conditions. Hungary is a weaker actor of the global economy and even within the EU it belongs to the group of the medium size MSs. Thus it's capability to exploit the possibilities offered by FTAs is also limited. In the final part of the paper the factors that determine the position of Hungary and the position itself will be examined.

並列關鍵字

Hungary ； European Union ； European integration ； regional integration ； international trade ； Free Trade Agreements ； security considerations ； interdependence

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