Economic integration and trade specialization: The experience of periphery countries in the southern part of the european union

Abstract

FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDYNG WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE THUS FAR THROUGH MORE THAN TEN YEARS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, THE EFFECTS OF THIS INTEGRATION PROCESS ON THE TRADE SPECIALIZATION OF PERIPHERY ECONOMIES IN SOUTHERN EUROPE IS ANALYZED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES, LOOKING AT GREECE, PORTUGAL AND SPAIN. THE STUDY CONVERS THE PERIOD FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET PROJECT (1985) UNTIL 1996, AND FOCUSES ON INDUSTRY WHICH IS THE SECTOR MOST AFFECTED BY LIBERALIZATION THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADVANCES IN THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, GIVEN THE GREATER EXPOSURE OF THIS SECTOR TO FOREIGN COMPETITION.