Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 70 some members' higher barriers by entering(or leaving) the area through low­barrier countries. One example of FTA, true to its name, is the European Free Trade Area formed in 1960. Another is the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), which was formally incepted in 1994. ii. A Customs Union, in which members remove all barriers to trade among themselves and adopt a common set of external barriers. By so doing, the need for customs inspection at internal borders is eliminated. The European Economic Community(EEC) from 1957 to 1992 had included a customs union along with some other agreements. iii. A Common Market, where members allow full freedom of factor flows (migration of labour or capital) among themselves in addition to having a customs union. It should be noted that, despite its name, the European Common Market(or EEC, then EC or EU) was not a common market up through the 1980s, because it still had substantial barriers to the international movement of labour and capital. The EU became a common market, and more, in reality at the end of 1992. iv. Full Economic Union(Community), in which member countries unify all their economic policies, including monetary, fiscal, and welfare. Policies toward trade and factor migration are also harmonised. The EU has approached full unity, though governments keep much of their tax autonomy. Monetary union has been achieved, even though some members(Great Britain for instance) are still outside of the total monetary integration. The first two types of economic blocs are simply trade blocs(i.e., they have removed all explicit trade barriers but keep their national barriers to the flow of labour and capital. They also keep their national fiscal and monetary autonomy). Trade blocs have proved easier to form than common markets or full unions among sovereign nations. Table 1 Features of Bloc Type of Free Trade Bloc among the members Common External Tariffs Free Movement of Factors of Production Harmonisation of all Economic Policies (e.g. fiscal, Monetary,) Free Trade +-- ­Area(FTA) Customs ++- ­Union Common +++ ­Market Economic ++++ Union The Impetus for Regionalism There are several reasons why nations may want to form a community. We have already indicated that regionalism and/or regional cooperation is trade-induced and, as such, the main objective in an integrative scheme is the desire to eliminate barriers