Liberalising Trade in the EU and the WTO : A Legal Comparison

Trade liberalisation remains controversial. This volume compares the law and institutions of two liberalised trade systems: the EU and the WTO. With topics ranging from trade negotiations to technical standards, and subsidies to social objectives, this study focuses on recent developments and lessons for future trade policy.

This comparison of EU and WTO approaches to common trade-liberalisation challenges brings together eighteen authors from Europe and America. Together they explore fundamental legal issues, such as the role of general principles of law, the role of the judiciary in the development of law, the effect of the principle of non-discrimination and the elimination of non-discriminatory barriers to trade. The contributions also examine the most recent developments in trade law across a full range of trade issues, including TBT and SPS, services, intellectual property, customs rules, safeguards, anti-dumping and government procurement. Adopting a comparative perspective throughout, this volume sheds light on today''s trade law and suggests paths forward for each system through the perennial tensions between open, non-discriminatory trade and strongly held national values and objectives.