Trade and ‘domestic’ policies: the European mix

Abstract

With increasing economic interdependence, policies and regulations that were once thought of as ‘domestic’ become subject to international trade negotiation and rules. The EU has developed a sophisticated approach to balancing sovereignty and liberalization within the single market, and in recent years has also sought to apply some of the same approaches to the multilateral arena. But the EU is reaching the limits of its own approach internally and has seen great resistance to the explicit extension of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agenda into further regulatory spheres, notably at the WTO at the Cancun meeting. Yet the underlying problems remain. If the WTO cannot negotiate the balance between trade liberalization and regulatory autonomy, whether in food safety or services, there is a risk of excessive reliance being placed on the dispute settlement system, and further challenges to the legitimacy of the WTO.

Keywords:

• European Union
• regulation
• single market
• sovereignty
• trade
• World Trade Organization

Acknowledgements

I am extremely grateful to the editors of this issue of the journal, especially Alasdair Young, Matthew Baldwin and Erik Jones for advice and comments, and to Kamala Dawar and Jim Mathis (Amsterdam University) for legal advice. Kamala Dawar also provided invaluable editorial assistance.

Notes

1. Case 120/78 REWE Zentral (1979) ECR 649 (‘Cassis de Dijon’).

2. United States – Restrictions on Imports of Tuna. Panel Report 1991.

3. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/services/services-dir/index_en.htm

4. Keck and Mithouard (1993) ECR I-6097.

5. DS135 Canada vs. European Communities – Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos.

6. DS26 European Communities – Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (Hormones).

7. DS204 US vs. Mexico – Measures Affecting Telecommunications Services.

8. DS285 Antigua vs. US – Gambling.

9. The US had scheduled ‘recreational services’ as open to foreign suppliers without scheduling an exception for gambling, even though it had laws on its books controlling entry in this sector.