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Legal Issues of Economic Integration
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.175

Number of Followers: 13

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ISSN (Print) 1566-6573
Published by Kluwer Law International

[21 journals]

A Geopolitical Commission, a European Green Deal and Trade
- Abstract:
  Content Type Journal Article
  Part of Volume 47, Issue 1
  Journal Legal Issues of Economic Integration
  Online ISSN 1566-6573
  Print ISSN 1566-6573
  PubDate: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +000
In Defence of the WTO: Why Do We Need a Multilateral Trading System'
- Abstract: For more than seven decades, the multilateral trading system has played an essential role in promoting international cooperation on trade policymaking and dispute resolution. As the WTO is being pushed toward the verge of irrelevance, it falls upon us, who believe in the utility of the WTO and multilateralism in general, to defend its legitimacy and significance. Taking theoretical and doctrinal approaches as well as case studies, this article expounds on the fundamental function of the system as being to discipline the use of protectionist policy instruments for trade or non-trade objectives and draws on the significance of the Theory of Distortions and Welfare in providing powerful economic guidance for how the system may operate to achieve a proper balance between the regulation of protectionist instruments and the preservation of policy space. Furthermore, this article shows how the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism, particularly the Appellate Body, has served the underlying function of the system by contributing to disincentivizing governments from responding to protectionist demands of special interest groups but leaving sufficient latitude of discretion for governments to accommodate nontrade interests. This article cautions that if the WTO does collapse and potential adverse economic and political ramifications materialize, then the political need for international trade cooperation and rulesbased dispute resolution will quickly return. By then, the best way to address that need in pursuit of long-term peace and prosperity would be to rebuild a multilateral trading system.
  Content Type Journal Article
  Part of Volume 47, Issue 1
  Authors
  Weihuan Zhou, Senior Lecturer and Member of the Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre, Faculty of Law, UNSW Sydney.
  Journal Legal Issues of Economic Integration
  Online ISSN 1566-6573
  Print ISSN 1566-6573
  PubDate: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +000
CETA and the External Autonomy of the EU Legal Order: Risk Regulation as a
Test
- Abstract: This article endeavours to assess whether the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (‘ISDS’) mechanism established under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (‘CETA’) may in fact undermine the external autonomy of the EU legal order, arguing that in Opinion 1/17 the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) has lowered the bar in its analysis of compatibility with this principle. After a brief overview of the notion of external autonomy the article turns to an analysis of the CETA Opinion, arguing that the CJEU confined itself to a formal scrutiny of the relevant textual provisions and failed to thoroughly explore the impact that CETA’s ISDS mechanism is liable to have in practice. The article then deploys two hypothetical scenarios, both involving the field of EU risk regulation. These will show how CETA Tribunals might indirectly interpret EU law as a matter of law and how, when assessing whether an EU measure breaches CETA, they might encroach on the EU determination of the adequate level of protection of public interests. Against this backdrop, the article argues that CETA’s ISDS system is liable to undermine the uniform and consistent interpretation and application of EU law. Further, CETA Tribunals might de facto bind the CJEU in its interpretation of EU law and influence other EU institutions in the exercise of their powers.
  Content Type Journal Article
  Part of Volume 47, Issue 1
  Authors
  Giulia Claudia Leonelli, Lecturer in Law, Birkbeck College, University of London; Research Fellow, Transnational Law Institute, School of Law, King’s College London.
  Journal Legal Issues of Economic Integration
  Online ISSN 1566-6573
  Print ISSN 1566-6573
  PubDate: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +000
Corporate Social Responsibility and Economic Globalization: Mainstreaming
Sustainable Development Goals into the AfCFTA Discourse
- Abstract: There is a widely held belief that a borderless global economy brings numerous advantages including economic growth, development and welfare maximization. Globalization equally drives (and is driven by the activities of) large corporations involved in cross border operations. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a tool with which integrated developed economies ensure corporate behaviours remain within public interest confines, the regional integration agenda in Africa appears focused on liberalization of trade and investment at all costs. This article examines CSR in regional integration discourse, especially within the European Union, extracting important lessons for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It unifies the ultimate agenda of both CSR and African regionalism in achieving sustainable development. Advising against misconstruing CSR as an unnecessary trade barrier, the article demonstrates why and how CSR values can be mainstreamed into AfCFTA discourse towards ensuring inclusive growth in Africa and improving the global competitiveness of domestic businesses.
  Content Type Journal Article
  Part of Volume 47, Issue 1
  Authors
  Nojeem Amodu, A Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Comparative Law in Africa (CCLA), University of Cape Town, South Africa, under the TY Danjuma Fund for Law and Policy Development in Africa.
  Journal Legal Issues of Economic Integration
  Online ISSN 1566-6573
  Print ISSN 1566-6573
  PubDate: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +000