But even without this feasibility constraint, there are economic and political economy forces that tend to limit concessions within PTAs to those that explicitly discriminate against foreigners. The central one is the loss of sovereignty that some (e.g. Robson, 1998) see as a necessary condition for economic integration to occur. This is not to say that East Asian economic integration need necessarily involve the establishment of formal supranational institutions – this is highly unlikely. But the threat to sovereignty is felt most strongly by countries when contemplating making reforms to non-discriminatory domestic regulatory regimes as part of a trade agreement. To some in the East Asian region, this may be viewed as too much of a threat to the ‘right to regulate’.