EU and WTO regulatory frameworks : complimentarity or competition?

This text charts the development of the World Trade Organization, and examines its role as regulator of the international trading system.

It considers whether the WTO is likely to impose constraints on EU commercial policy and thereby impinge on the sovereignty of the union as a whole, or whether the EU may continue to operate independently and in co-existence with the trade liberalization agenda of the WTO.Divided into six parts, the text looks at the history of GATT from the initial accord of 1947, examines the substantive provisions of the Uruguay Round and identifies the distinct features of the WTO.

It then goes on to detail the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism, the position of the EU within the GATT/WTO framework and the constraints and opportunities for continued use of commercial diplomacy by the European Union.

Finally, the text offers some reflections on the trade negotiation agenda in the 21st century.