ABSTRACT
While reduction of transportation and communication costs contributed to the development of trans-border economic activities, the single most significant contribution came from modern trade policy. Eight negotiating rounds under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) proved to be instrumental in rolling back barriers to trade and protecting the trading system against protectionist backlash. Modern trade policy for financial services is concerned with opening borders and with many aspects of guaranteeing stability. The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) achieved in the liberalization of insurance markets is by today's standards extremely limited, it is important to recognize that by focusing on some particularly pressing issues the organization met the special needs of the post-war years. The broadening of the trade policy agenda that came with the introduction of the Single Market programme, facilitates trade policy issues in areas that are highly relevant for financial service liberalization, such as domestic regulation and foreign direct investment (FDI).
