South Asian regionalism—mainly represented by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—has always been vulnerable to the influence of the long-standing bilateral disputes, and South Asian intra-regional trade and economic cooperation is limited. This article examines economic integration in Europe, from the 1950s to Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union (EU) in 2016, in order to identify possible lessons for the SAARC. In particular, this article makes use of Gürler’s model of economic integration to propose a way forward for economic cooperation through the SAARC. While the full implementation of the EU’s model of economic integration appears to be a distant reality for the SAARC, this article argues that a revitalized SAARC is nonetheless a suitable vehicle for pursuing a gradual process of economic cooperation in South Asia that may ultimately lead not only to economic integration but also the resolution of political disputes.

中文翻译：

---

欧盟为南亚区域主义进行经济一体化的经验教训

主要由南亚区域合作联盟（SAARC）代表的南亚区域主义一直容易受到长期双边争端的影响，南亚区域内贸易和经济合作受到限制。本文研究了从1950年代到英国决定于2016年退出欧盟（EU）的欧洲经济一体化，以便为SAARC吸取教训。特别是，本文利用Gürler的经济一体化模型为通过SAARC进行经济合作提出了前进的道路。尽管对于SAARC而言，全面实施欧盟的经济一体化模式似乎是遥不可及的现实，