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The efficiency and practicality of currency areas is a controversial source of debate in the field of economics nowadays. Advocates of the system predict that currency unions lead to higher trade volumes as a result of reduced exchange rate uncertainty and higher integration. Possibly the most prominent example of a currency area nowadays is the EMU, initiated in 1995 with the purpose of nurturing a unified European market as one of the main aims. There is no consensus on whether the EMU has induced a net loss or benefit upon its members, but one common finding among academic studies is that the EMU leads to higher trade among union members. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the euro adoption on trade between EMU members. The model uses a pooled data set comprising the years from 1990 to 2012. Two separate groups are analysed, one including all OECD and EU countries, and another using data from only European countries from the sample. After allowing for different circumstances, I find that two countries belonging to the EMU trade between 17 and 32 per cent more than country pairs outside the union. Moreover, I find that language similarity has a neutral effect in the European sample, while it seems to have a highly significant effect on the sample including all countries.

This aim of this thesis will be to first address the issue of the direct applicability of the GATT within the national framework, mainly through the use of an analysis of the considerations that such a denial of the direct effect of the GATT is based upon, to understand if there are real obstacles to its implementation, before examining the harmful effects this of denial. The analysis will focus on the situation in both the European Union and the United States, these two countries being two of the most important trade partners in the WTO, before suggesting various solutions that could be adopted to implement the direct effect of the GATT in order to benefit both individuals and the WTO members. / However, since WTO members are still highly opposed to the recognition of the direct effect of the GATT, the unlikelihood of its implementation, at least in a short term perspective, will lead to an analysis of the situation directly at the WTO level. This will permit us to further conclude, whether it would be possible to find solutions to palliate the problems arising out of the denial of the direct effect of the GATT at a national level. Indeed, in the last part of the analysis undertaken in this work, various ways to remedy the deficit of democracy will be explored, examining alternatively the best vectors that could be used: individuals or NGOs, in order to enhance the legitimacy of the WTO which is principally under attack.

The WTO Work Programme on Electronic Commerce was established to deal with the implications of E-commerce in trade in the context of the WTO Agreements. One outstanding issue within the Work Programme is the disagreement among members regarding the classification of electronically delivered products (E-products). Are they goods subject to GATT or services subject to GATS? This has significant consequences because trade liberalization in GATT and GATS works differently and the relatively free trade E-products currently enjoy could be affected depending on whether they are classified as goods or services. However, a negotiated solution among WTO members that acknowledges that these are complex products that share characteristics of both goods and services could resolve the disagreement on classification. Furthermore, a service classification consensus, provided the current trade liberalization is maintained, would be the most suitable option to ensure that trade barriers do not compromise trade in E-products. / The World Trade Organization (WTO) established the Work Program in Electronic Commerce in 1998 to address the implications of E-commerce on trade in the context of the WTO Agreements. In 1999 the Work Program members reached a consensus that the WTO-treaties with all their rights, obligations, and members’ specific commitments are applicable to E-commerce. However, many issues were not addressed and continue to be unresolved, one of those is the classification dilemma of E-products. Are they goods subject to GATT or services subject to GATS? In the meantime, in 1998, some WTO members agreed to a temporary Moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions for a period of time. This Moratorium however is not permanent.

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