The European Union and the global political economy

摘要: The EU occupies a special position in the GPE—indeed, it could be argued that this area is the one in which the distinctive characteristics and resources of the EU have most shaped the contemporary world, and in which it is most possible to discern the impact of the EU in the global arena. But what do we mean when we refer to the GPE? In recent years, the term ‘global political economy’has gained ground compared with the more established term ‘international political economy’in the analysis and evaluation of the political dimension of international economic structures and processes. Essentially, the term GPE is preferred by many analysts as it covers more precisely the content and phenomena to be evaluated; interactions are not only ‘international’(ie initiated by national governments or occurring between nations) but rather ‘global’(ie transcending national boundaries and involving a wide range of other potential actors). The term ‘global’implies that these interactions encompass the activities of multinational companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), traders on financial markets, and so on. It is not simply a question of actors, however. The challenges the world faces more often than not are global rather than international, such as those relating to climate change and environmental degradation, stability of the financial system, benefits and costs of free trade, migration, uneven economic growth, development and prosperity, and distribution of wealth among peoples and regions.Despite the increasing focus on globalization and its manifestations, the academic literature that studies these matters is still referred to broadly as IPE. First …