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NewProtectionistTendenciesandInclinationtoBilateralismandRegionalism...
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ofenvironmentalprotectionhavebecomemostimportantissues.Therefore,it
isevidentthattheinternationalmarkethastotakethemintoaccount.Inthe
contextofthesustainabledevelopment,thekeyproblemistomakeaproper
choice:istheintroductionofrestrictionsoninternationaltradethebestsolution,
orwillthebenefitsfromenvironmentalprotection(asappliedbyamultilateral
tradesystem)behigherthanthecosts?
Itisnecessaryalsotoemphasisthatiftherulesofinternationaltradeare
clear-andiftheyareperceivedtobesupportiveofimportantenvironmental
values-thentheirlegitimacywillbemuchgreater.Overthelongterm,public
supportfortheWTOdependsonaperceptionthatitisbalancedandfair.
EffortstoaddresstheissuesidentifiedabovecouldgreatlyenhancetheWTO’s
reputation.Competingtradeandenvironmentalprinciplescouldbestbebalanced
throughcreationofaninterpretivestatementthatfocusesonhowthe“exceptions”
spelledoutinArticleXXwouldbeimplemented,ratherthanthroughfull-blown
renegotiationoftheenvironmentalelementsofthetradingsystem.
Atoneend,amultilateralforumwithnearuniversalmembershipoffers
maximizationofgainsfromtradeandreducedtransactioncosts.However,asingle
statecannotexpecttohavemuchcontrolovertradepartnersorliberalization
agendasatthemultilaterallevel.Attheotherend,abilateralFTAoftenyields
verysmallgainsfromtradeandusuallyincreasestransactioncostsbyproducing
idiosyncraticsetsofrules.Butatthesametime,alargestatecanacquireahigh
levelofcontrolintermsofpartners,issuesandagendaselection,andsectoral
exclusionsorinclusionsbasedondomesticpoliticalneeds.Onecancontendthat
industrializedofaggregateeconomicgainsintheinterestofnationalwelfare
(largestinmultilateralforums)orseekingcontroloverrulesinlinewithpolitical
interests(greatestinbilateralforums).
Theincreaseregionalizationofeconomiccooperationandthebilateral
agreementsbetweenparticularcountriesisakindofbehaviorwithwhich
manycountriesreacttothechallengesposedbytheworldeconomiccrisis.
StrengtheningofalreadyexistingregionalgroupslikeEuropeanUnion,creating
newagreementsandnewtradeblockscausesaspecific“fragmentarisation”of
theglobaleconomy.Theincreaseofeconomictiesbetweensuchgroupsand
countriesistheeffectofeconomiccrisis.
ThenewtrendsconcernalsothecommontradepolicyoftheEuropeanUnion.
Thishasbeenreflectedinthegrowthofbilateralagreements,forexample,
betweentheEuropeanUnionandASEANcountriesandintheproposalsfor
creatingatransatlanticfreetradeareabetweentheEuropeanUnionandthe
UnitedStatesofAmerica.Insuchasituationoccurstotheliberalizationof
tradewithintheframeworkofbilateralagreementsandinalesserextentin
theframeworkofthemultilateralsystemofinternationaltradeoftheWTO.
