Scientific paper ID 2311 : 2022/3

The different forms of international economic integration theoretically can be arranged in a sequence of steps, each having deeper and broader integration. In practice, some steps are skipped or combined in a different sequence. Least representative is the sequencing in the fourth step of Common Market or Monetary Union. Those two facets are the pre-requisites for the fifth step and that may be the only relationship between the facets. In addition, in some of the few cases of reaching the fourth step (either of its two facets) the previous step of Customs Union was skipped, which means that the sequence as presented is based only on the history of the European Union (and announced plans of other trade blocs and organizations) instead of on a relevant number of occurrences. Thus it’s possible that in the future more cases of economic integration described as step four will actually happen as additional facets of the third step.