Multilateral Rules and the Legality of Regional Integration
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Description
Published as Chapter 21 in The International Law of Economic Integration, Julien Chaisse & Christoph Herrmann, eds. (Oxford University Press 2025).
This chapter discusses the multilateral rules that are relevant to regional integration. In particular, it documents the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) provisions that relate to free trade agreements (FTAs) under the GATT and General Agreement on Trade in Services, customs unions, and preferential trade agreements, referred to as ‘FTAs’ where discussed collectively. The chapter highlights not only the rules themselves but also ways in which the rules are inadequate or do not function as the drafters intended. In addition, the chapter addresses a number of WTO panel and Appellate Body decisions that clarify aspects of the legal interplay between FTAs and the multilateral rules. Throughout, the chapter offers commentary on the efficacy of the applicable rules and identifies areas in which the rules require further clarification.
Publication Date
5-29-2025
Publisher
Oxford University Press
First Page
318
Last Page
334
Keywords
World Trade Organization, free trade agreements, customs unions, CUs, Enabling Clause, preferential trade agreements
Disciplines
International Trade Law | Law
Recommended Citation
Meredith Kolsky Lewis, Multilateral Rules and the Legality of Regional Integration in The International Law of Economic Integration (Julien Chaisse & Christoph Herrmann, eds., Oxford University Press 2025).
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