WTO accessions: A market access perspective on growth – the approach of the European Union

A strong multilateral trading system is vital to developing countries’ longterm interests both for its rulebook and for the market access that it guarantees in all key markets. Markets are increasingly located in developing countries. Indeed, for the first time in recent history, South–South trade outweighs North–South trade, even though barriers to South–South trade are much more significant than those to developed countries’ markets. Through their WTO accession, acceding economies can reap the benefits of more and better access to most world markets – that of the European Union being among the biggest.