Coercion through Graduation: Explaining the EU-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement

Resumen

The European Union (EU) successfully concluded negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Ecuador in 2014. This occurred despite the country’s long-standing opposition to FTAs and its withdrawal from earlier negotiations with the EU in the context of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). This article argues that the renewed negotiations can be explained through the EU’s use of its trade power in a process of asymmetrical bargaining with the country following on from Ecuador’s loss of preferential access to the EU’s market under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).