How was ‘international trade’ between former European empires and their former colonies in Africa governed after decolonisation? In the 1960s, the vast majority of African countries became independent, and so a new arrangement was necessary to govern their economic relations with Europe. The Yaoundé Conventions were then concluded between the European Community (EC) and the bloc of postcolonial African countries. Specialised literature provides comprehensive accounts of the Yaoundé Conventions. However, little is known about the role of law and lawyers in their making and governance. Part of this story concerns political and intellectual struggles in the legal profession about which projects, ideas, and norms would be applicable. Another part concerns the work of lawyers to organise those policies, theories and visions into an emerging conception and to employ it to influence the production and management of the Yaoundé Conventions. This article combines historical and socio-legal approaches to show that a distinct legal conception of regional trade agreements—called here the ‘development framework’—was pivotal to the design and application of the Yaoundé Conventions. This conception was primarily advanced and persuasively used by European and African lawyers. This contrasts with the conventional view that trade agreements are variations on a single legal concept. It is concluded that EC–Africa regionalism was a singular experiment, due significantly to the unique features of this legal conception.

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从殖民主义到区域主义：雅温得公约（1963-1974）

非殖民化后，前欧洲帝国与其在非洲的前殖民地之间的“国际贸易”是如何管理的？1960 年代，绝大多数非洲国家独立，因此有必要制定新的安排来管理它们与欧洲的经济关系。雅温得公约随后在欧洲共同体（EC）和后殖民非洲国家集团之间缔结。专业文献提供了对雅温得公约的全面描述。然而，人们对法律和律师在其制定和治理中的作用知之甚少。这个故事的一部分涉及法律职业中关于哪些项目、想法和规范适用的政治和知识斗争。另一部分涉及律师组织这些政策的工作，将理论和愿景转化为新兴概念，并将其用于影响雅温得公约的生产和管理。本文结合历史和社会法律方法，表明区域贸易协定的独特法律概念（此处称为“发展框架”）对于雅温得公约的设计和应用至关重要。这一概念主要被欧洲和非洲的律师先进和有说服力地使用。这与贸易协定是单一法律概念的变体的传统观点形成鲜明对比。得出的结论是，欧共体-非洲区域主义是一个独特的实验，这在很大程度上是由于这种法律概念的独特性。本文结合历史和社会法律方法，表明区域贸易协定的独特法律概念（此处称为“发展框架”）对于雅温得公约的设计和应用至关重要。这一概念主要被欧洲和非洲的律师先进和有说服力地使用。这与贸易协定是单一法律概念的变体的传统观点形成鲜明对比。得出的结论是，欧共体-非洲区域主义是一个独特的实验，这在很大程度上是由于这种法律概念的独特性。本文结合历史和社会法律方法，表明区域贸易协定的独特法律概念（此处称为“发展框架”）对于雅温得公约的设计和应用至关重要。这一概念主要被欧洲和非洲的律师先进和有说服力地使用。这与贸易协定是单一法律概念的变体的传统观点形成鲜明对比。得出的结论是，欧共体-非洲区域主义是一个独特的实验，这在很大程度上是由于这种法律概念的独特性。这与贸易协定是单一法律概念的变体的传统观点形成鲜明对比。得出的结论是，欧共体-非洲区域主义是一个独特的实验，这在很大程度上是由于这种法律概念的独特性。这与贸易协定是单一法律概念的变体的传统观点形成鲜明对比。得出的结论是，欧共体-非洲区域主义是一个独特的实验，这在很大程度上是由于这种法律概念的独特性。