While the basic objective of all the groupings, irrespective of the form that each of them might have taken, appears to be the same, viz. improving the welfare of people within the region through creation of a larger production base and increased market size for producers and greater choice to both producers and consumers, a number of factors seem to have contributed to regional economic groupings gaining momentum in recent years.

Political Objective: The basic motive behind formation of the European Union was political, i.e., to avoid future conflicts among European nations after the two world wars. The West European countries, who had paid a very heavy price during the first and the second world wars had, after considerable deliberations, decided to seek political unity through economic route. With the support provided by USA under the Marshall Plan, they decided to form the United Community by surrendering their individual national sovereign-ties to a regional body on trade and economic matters. This gave birth to the European Common Market, to start with, and now the countries are moving towards political and economic union.

Response to Slow Progress of Global Liberalization: One of the factors that has contributed to formation of economic groups with emphasis on removal of mutual trade barriers can