#858 - Iberian Apennines Summit II

It's no wonder everyone was so surprised.

You should know that most of the so-called trade agreements at this time were just slapping their heads and estimating tariffs, or banning/allowing certain commodities.

Once a problem arose, either a major power would force a small country to cede benefits, or they would directly tear each other apart.

The previous Seine-Rhine trade agreement was already a model of such agreements, and the current common market rules are even more advanced and civilized.

At least, in the eyes of all member states, the terms are impeccable. Large and small countries are treated equally, and there are even some biases towards small countries.

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For example, the protection clauses for the disadvantaged industries of small countries. The election of the arbitration committee is also one vote per member state, and Modena and France have the same right to speak.

If you don't join such a perfect common market, you're simply letting yourself down!

And their thoughts were already within Joseph's expectations.

Just kidding, the WTO is a set of rules that economists and diplomats at the end of the 20th century racked their brains to come up with. Even countries in the information age can't find anything wrong with it, let alone these countries that are still in the early stages of industrialization.

It's completely a dimensionality reduction strike in terms of concept.

However, in reality, these terms that are fair and just to all member states are inherently unfair.

It's like asking Tyson and Lin Daiyu to box. If the rules of the game have the same constraints on them, is this boxing match fair?

Similarly, France's size and national strength completely crush other small countries under the same rules.

The simplest reason is that France can come up with tens of millions of francs and gather a large number of technicians to develop steam engines, which other small countries simply cannot do. In the end, they can only wait for French steam engines to occupy their market.

Even if everyone's technical capabilities are at the same level, French factories can easily recruit thousands of workers and lower costs with production capacity, and small countries have no competitive advantage at all.

Of course, for a small country in such a huge market, it can also find its place in the low-end and mid-end industries, so as to obtain development opportunities that were previously difficult to achieve.

It can be said that in the end, it is still a win-win situation.

Of course, the premise for the establishment of such a common market is that France has absolute military influence in the region within the market. Otherwise, even if the common market is established, other countries will use cannons to teach you what "free trade" is.

Genoa's Governor, Ebiazo, just glanced at the text of the Common Market terms, and then stood up first, saying firmly: "Genoa is willing to join the Common Market!"

For a country like Genoa that is based on trade, the Common Market is simply a pie in the sky. He was the first to express his intention to join, which could also increase the goodwill of the Crown Prince of France, so he took the lead.

Prince Parma, who had previously questioned the terms of the agreement, also quickly made amends and said loudly: "Parma also joins the Common Market. The great France will bring the glory of civilization and prosperity to the Apennine Peninsula with this agreement!"

With the two countries taking the lead, other countries also followed suit.

Anyway, specific negotiations on tariffs, market protection, etc. can be done slowly later. First, express your attitude.

Joseph waited for the representatives of all countries to express their views, and nodded: "Since everyone intends to join the Common Market, then the first committee election will be held tomorrow, and then the protective tariff negotiations will begin as soon as possible."

He then threw out an even bigger surprise, gesturing towards the second document in front of everyone: "After signing the Common Market agreement, we will recognize each other's patents and abide by the same market rules.

"This will lay the foundation for technology licensing and large-scale investment."

Sure enough, the eyes of the representatives of various countries immediately lit up with eagerness, staring at the Crown Prince of France.

Joseph looked at Luca's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and continued: "For example, the Republic of Luca can join our 'Textile Technology Association'.

"You only need to pay a small amount of patent fees and membership fees to obtain the entire set of automatic looms.

"The Technology Association can even directly invest in helping you build new factories and send technicians to train workers."

Padovan, Luca's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, widened his eyes instantly, his face full of disbelief.

Although Luca, the smallest country in Italy, is coastal, it does not have much income from ports and shipping—the neighboring Genoa occupies this business—but the silk textile industry is very prosperous.

If it can obtain France's latest silk weaving technology and investment, coupled with the huge common market, wouldn't it be making a lot of money in the future?!

He stood up excitedly, constantly expressing his gratitude to Joseph, and almost composed a hymn on the spot.

Now the generous Crown Prince of France is actually going to teach French winemaking technology.

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This is simply a gift from God!

However, he is still a representative of a major country. Although he repeated his gratitude to Joseph several times, he was far less flattering than Padovan.

Of course, Joseph is not trying to be a nice guy.

The division of the industrial chain was originally part of his plan.

Whether it is silk weaving technology or winemaking technology, the threshold is not very high. At most, in three to five years, other countries will be able to imitate it to a similar extent.

Instead of doing this, it is better to authorize them directly through formal channels, which can also earn a lot of patent fees and membership fees from the Technology Association.

At the same time, patent authorization can also be used to restrict the technological upgrading of other countries, so that they will always stay in the mid-to-low-end industrial chain.

Just like the automobile manufacturing industry in Eastern countries in later generations, they have never been able to produce high-quality gearboxes. A very important reason is that the existing gearbox structures are patented by other countries. If you want to produce them, you have to infringe. And starting from scratch, a completely new design performance is definitely not very good—the optimal solution has already been patented by others, and what is left for you are the solutions that others have chosen.

Moreover, technology transfer can also increase the attractiveness and cohesion of the common market, so that when Joseph makes some small requests, no one will object.

Seeing that the representatives of various countries were discussing very excitedly, Joseph coughed lightly and said:

"I believe everyone has also noticed that in order to carry out technology transfer and investment in the common market, and to facilitate large-scale transnational trade, a unified settlement institution is needed.

"For example, a large bank that can provide trade prepayments, settlements, payments, and loans for all member states, and is affiliated with the common market."