Measures of external trade policy and the rate of economic openness in the countries of the Visegrad group

Download

JEL classification

• Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
• Economic Integration

Keywords

the Visegrad Group, Rate of openness, trade liberalization, trade policy, trade preferences

Abstract

The article showed trade liberalization in the countries of the Visegrad Group before their entrance into the European Union by the characterization of the main trade policy instruments. After the entrance into the Euro-pean Union, the Visegrad Group assumed the Common commercial policy and the competences in the area of trade policy were delegated to the EU´s institutions. The aim of the article is to make a comparison of external trade policy and the rate of openness in the countries of the Visegrad group. The rate of economic openness is analyzed in the period 1995–2008. Although the growth of the rate of openness in the countries of the Visegrad group was variable, the highest level of economic openness was achieved by the Visegrad group countries after their entrance into the EU. It was caused mainly by the realization of intra-EU trade, which enables free move-ment of goods and services on the common internal market for all member countries of the European Union. Whereas after the entrance into the EU a higher average rate of the growth of the rate of openness was recorded in Hungary and Poland, the contrary was recorded in Czechia and Slovakia. Although trade liberalization continues now in the countries of the Visegrad group according to the intention of the Common commercial policy of the EU, it is evident that the economic crisis which hit the world economy in the second half of 2008 has a negative influence on the rate of openness in the Visegrad group.