1,721,004 research outputs found
What is the WTO for? Ideology and the pursuit of sustainability
No full textConference paper, presensted at: Symposium on Socio-Legal and Theoretical Perspectives on International Economic Law, Co-organised by Fiona Smith (UCL) and Lisa Toohey (UNSW), UCL, November 2013This paper engages with the inherent contingency and contestability of the ideological assumptions which have driven WTO decision-making. Through the lens of the principle of sustainable development, the plurality of values affected by WTO decision-making are exposed. The principle of sustainable development links the pursuit of economic, social and environmental interests, notwithstanding their frequent pursuit through specialist legal orders. It requires a balancing of interests; no single pillar takes automatic priority. In addition to carrying global force, through international commitment, these interests manifest themselves and vary according to local culture. Thus the pressures pertaining to the realisation of sustainable development are both top down and ‘bottom-up’. The binding dispute settlement procedure of the WTO means it occupies a unique space in this context, particularly as regards the adjudication of the line to be drawn between economic and non-economic interests. Yet the WTO Institutions reflect the agenda of the WTO, and work within a particular context: they have a limited mandate which is vulnerable to pre-conceptions and assumptions which inevitably impact upon its decision-making
Sustainable development chapters in trade agreements: the emergence of a governing principle?
No full textThe sustainable development goals were adopted less than ten years ago, to a mixed response. The welcome with which they were greeted by some was countered by others’ scepticism. Yet the contemporary context of ever more frequent extreme weather-related events, the consequences of which are variously environmental, social and economic, and invariably devastating, means that the universal commitment to sustainable development, and to achieving the sustainable development goals, has an urgency that was not felt even at the time of their adoption. The effects of such devastating climate related events, whether fire, flood, storm or drought, are exacerbated when they impact communities already burdened with poverty. The commitment to sustainable development recognises that there is an inherent inter-relationship between economic, social and environmental interests: that pursuit and protection of one cannot be sustained without the others. Yet the status and normative effect of ‘sustainable development’, which is variously viewed as a concept, an objective and sometimes a principle, remains contested. From that base line, sustainable development as an instrument of economic governance appears distant. There are signs, however, that in some contexts ‘sustainable development’ may have potential for realisation. This paper evaluates the implications of the increasingly common inclusion of sustainable development chapters in bilateral and multilateral trade agreements: its objective is to ascertain the extent to which this practice signifies the establishment of sustainable development as a core or universal principle of trade cooperation, shaping and/or underpinning trade relations, or whether it risks appearing to be a manifestation of social-green washing.<br/
The UK’s anti-legal populism: UK withdrawal from the ECHR considered through the lens of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
No full textBalancing human rights, environmental protection and international trade: Lessons from the EU experience
No full textThis book explores the means by which economic liberalisation can be reconciled with human rights and environmental protection in the regulation of international trade. It is primarily concerned with identifying the lessons the international community can learn, specifically in the context of the WTO, from decades of European Community and Union experience in facing this question. The book demonstrates first that it is possible to reconcile the pursuit of economic and non-economic interests, that the EU has found a mechanism by which to do so, and that the application of the principle of proportionality is fundamental to the realisation of this. It is argued that the EU approach can be characterised as a practical application of the principle of sustainable development. Secondly, from the analysis of the EU experience, this book identifies fundamental conditions crucial to achieving this 'reconciliation'. Thirdly, the book explores the implications of lessons from the EU experience for the international Community. In so doing it assesses both the potential and limits of the existing international regulatory framework for such reconciliation. The book develops a deeper understanding of the inter-relationship between the legal regulation of economic and non-economic development, adding clarity to the debate in a controversial area. It argues that a more holistic approach to the consideration of 'development', encompassing economic and non-economic concerns - 'sustainable' development - is not only desirable in principle but realisable in practice
Regulatory autonomy in the EU and WTO: Defining and defending its limits
No full textTension between the pursuit of trade liberalization and the protection and exercise of national regulatory autonomy is an issue which has arisen in both the European Community (EC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). While both legal orders provide for exceptions to the fundamental rules concerning free movement and access to markets, the interpretation and application of these exceptions represents a challenge. The fundamental question is how to distinguish between unlawful barriers to trade and legitimate national regulation. This paper presents an analysis of the approaches applied to this question by the EC and WTO, in the areas of free movement of goods and services, from a comparative perspective. It explores, in particular, the implications of the market access - non-discrimination dichotomy, and focuses upon the role of ‘proportionality’ review in each legal order
The evolving environment-trade nexus in the EU and WTO: building blocks of a just transition?
No full textThis article evaluates the environment-trade nexus in the European Union (EU) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the light of the imperatives created by complex global challenges such as climate change. It is argued that responding to these imperatives requires triangulation of the environment-trade nexus with its social dimension, but that this is currently insufficiently considered in both WTO and EU contemporary trade-environment discourse, policy and instruments. To address this, the concept of ‘just transition’ is engaged as an objective and a framing concept, exploring what it means for international trade law and for the environment-trade nexus in the WTO and EU, and challenging the dominant binary ‘trade-environment’ discourse. The article concludes that both the WTO and EU legal orders can accommodate the necessary triangulation of the environment-trade nexus with its social dimension, to support just transition, but that this is dependent upon active policy management engaging the social dimension
Risk assessment, science and deliberation: managing regulatory diversity under the SPS agreement?
No full textAbstract: the adoption by WTO Members of measures relating to the protection of health and life of animals, plants and humans is regulated by the WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement. A fundamental question in the application of this agreement concerns the distinction to be drawn between legitimate regulation and unlawful restriction of trade. This distinction can be difficult to discern, particularly since different communities have different levels of tolerance for risk, which leads to varying national regulatory decisions. This paper critically examines the approach taken to this question in rulings of the WTO dispute settlement panels and Appellate Body, highlighting and analysing three emergent issues: the role attributed to science, the two stage review process adopted and the application of the principle of mutual recognition. The importance of deliberative decision-making in this context is emphasised, as is the need for recognition and acceptance of the regulatory diversity that this will bring. <br/
Free trade: What is it good for? Globalisation, Deregulation and ‘Public Opinion’
No full textDeliberation, particularly in its core participatory variations, is widely regarded as an essential element in legitimate and sound decision?making. The deliberative ideal has much resonance with ideas of ‘localisation’, employing the value of local and applied knowledge in resolving problems and addressing risks. Partly for this very reason, participation is also widely accepted to be of particular value in conditions of globalisation, in which the effectiveness and authority of national government is challenged. We argue that in the context of international trade, the capacity of the WTO to absorb and reflect participatory aspects of decision?making is crucial to its future legitimacy, and to characterisation of its status. Should the WTO be seen as one of the darker forces of globalisation; or as an emerging institution of global accountability? The latter characterisation depends, among other things, upon recognition that the potential deregulatory effect of the WTO is contingent, and that the liberalisation of international trade should be understood as a means to welfare enhancement, rather than a goal in its own right. As ever, deliberative solutions require the maintenance of a strong public sphere, and we therefore consider whether solutions depending upon the notion of ‘empowered consumer choice’, rather than public deliberation, are unsatisfactory responses to the deregulatory impact of international trade disputes and their outcomes
Protecting non-economic interests in the European Community legal order: a sustainable development?
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