Narikaton and Darnussia

[Mbites]

President Eimann formally announces hosting Conference of Merenbürg: Invitations sent to Artanian Friends

April 5714 (backdated)


Bannerhafen

After teasing pan-Artanianism during his election campaign and after the last press-conference regarding foreign policy President Piet Eimann (VVP) and Director of Foreign Affairs Halunke (LRP) are getting serious.

A recently released joint statement from both the office of the president as well as the Directorate contained the official announcement of the Dual Republic hosting the “Conference of Merenbürg.” The materials released finally included the plans in regards to a new continental partnership: a joint Artanian Market. Halunke confirmed that in preliminary talks some Artanian nations have already stated their intent on productive participation in the project – or at least at the talks – to establish such an institution. These potential partners include: Dorvik, Dundorf, Luthori, and surprisingly even Kundrati. The conference revealing the treaty is supposed to be hosted in January 5715 as to ensure coordinated information flows and the ability for every potential participant to conduct necessary early domestic political maneuvering to enable an eventual entrance into a treaty.

The Directorate has already described the rough outlines of the treaty without going into much detail. Fundamentally the Artanian Market (also referred to as Artanian Free Trade Zone) is going to include a tariff-free zone with also means an abolishment of taxes based on the entrance of goods, services, capital and potentially labour. Due to a very fragmented geopolitical and diplomatic situation on the Artanian continent there will be certain goods exempted from the single market, the exact exemptions will have to be negotiated during the conference said Director Halunke. What is going to cause a bigger impact is a certain degree of harmonized law as the plans include the implementation of a common Artanian Competition Law (CACL) which is supposed to ensure that large corporations with considerable economic power are not going to abuse their entrenched positions to hinder effective competition and subsequently innovation within the borders of the single market. Another complex problem which will have to be solved during the negotiations are how goods imported from third-party states are going to be treated, Halunke has suggested to exclude all third-party imports from the free-market as it would be too sensitive politically to include them in the current state of world affairs. CACL will be executed by a largely independent “Artanian Trade Commission” headed by one commissioner for a term of six years, they will be designated by a member-state on the principle of rotation.

President Piet Eimann has seemed very confident and excited for the implications of this potential renewed Artanian project. “As everyone knows, the Dual Republic is always happy to create economic opportunity and wealth, especially if its with our Artanian brother nations.”