The Political Economy of Eastern European Trade with the European Community: Why so Sensitive?
分析欧共体对东欧敏感产品（如农产品、纺织品、钢铁）的保护程度，发现尽管这些产品对欧共体重要，但东欧进口占比很小，贸易自由化总体福利增加，而保护主义可能阻碍东欧投资。
EC trade with Eastern Europe Jim Rollo and Alasdair Smith Despite agreements to open trade with Eastern Europe, the European Community has retained a substantial degree of protection against imports of ‘sensitive’ products, notably agricultural products, textiles and clothing, and steel. This article investigates how sensitive these products really are. It is true that the targeted products are important to the EC economy, particularly in the poorer or declining regions. Yet trade with Eastern Europe only amounts to a very small proportion of the size of these sectors. When a large increase in imports is simulated, the overall effects on the Community are not insignificant, but are well within the range of the normal experience of economic change. Even without taking into account the fact that Eastern markets for EC goods would also grow, trade liberalization is welfare-increasing, particularly far Eastern Europe. Thus ‘contingent protection’, which may seriously deter investment in Eastern Europe, may simply be protectionism in any sector in which Eastern Europe is successful.