The Same Old Game?

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Abstract
The article examines the European Community's role in three international negotiating processes aiming at improved free trade: the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations, the negotiations with EFTA and the EC's negotiations on association agreements with three Central European states. The liberal-institutionalist perspective on international cooperation is contrasted with the realist perspective, and in accordance with the realist expectations it is concluded that relative gains have played a decisive role in outcomes. However, the distribution of gains within the participating states has been of greater importance than the distribution between states, thus indicating the significance of domestic determinants for international cooperation.