Earlier this month, I posted about a short Bridges piece I did on transparency in trade negotiations. If you're into that issue, here's more for you:
The Interest Group on International Economic Law of the European Society of International Law and the Italian Branch of the International Law Association, with the special support of the Italian MInistry of Foreign Affairs, organize in Ravenna, Italy, a Conference on "Transparency vs Confidentiality in International Economic Law: Looking for an Appropriate Balance". The Conference will be held on 20 November 2015, and the speakers will be selected through the call for papers here advertised (deadline: 30 September 2015).
Here are some details from the call for papers as to the issues that might be addressed:
I) Transparency v. Confidentiality in IEL International Negotiations
The recently emerged debate on the conduct of the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), the EU/Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), and the EU/US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) has importantly raised the issue of information, access to negotiations' documents and participation of civil society in the diplomatic activities concerning such important IEL negotiations. Another recent example is the negotiation process on Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) initiated by a number of WTO members, who now receive critics for lack of transparency not only from their nationals but also from other WTO members. It is thus necessary to explore the issue from the point of view of the major international actors, the business community, NGOs, and, more generally, civil society.
II) Transparency v. Confidentiality in the Activities of IEL International Organizations
There are various, highly relevant, intergovernmental international organizations specifically dealing with IEL issues. The important and delicate topics of their daily activities raises the issue of the level of transparency that should characterize their work. Scholars, practitioners, and, more generally, civil society are thus invited to present papers' proposals on the level of transparency and confidentiality which actually is or should be applied by International Organizations working in the field of international economic relations, such as the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, the international bodies managing investment proceedings, like ICSID and UNCITRAL.
III) Transparency v. Confidentiality in IEL Arbitration and Judicial Proceedings
It happens more and more often that IEL international adjudication proceedings -be they devoted to free trade, or investment protection- deal with the relation between free trade and investment protection, on the one hand, and non-trade or non-commercial values, as environmental protection, labour standards, the State's right to regulate, more generally the respect of human rights, on the other hand. Such a situation has provoked the greatest interest of civil society to participate in those international proceedings as amicus curiae, through their presence during the hearings of the judicial/arbitral mechanisms and their access to the disputants' submissions. It is therefore suggested that scholars and practitioners present proposals for papers on the Transparency v. Confidentiality debate in IEL Arbitration and Judicial Proceedings, in the WTO system, in investment proceedings, in dispute settlement mechanisms provided for in RTAs.
IV) Transparency v. Confidentiality in Parliamentary Discussions concerning IEL Negotiations on Treaty Law and Soft LawThe high relevance that IEL treaty and soft law instruments have for the domestic policies of the major international actors has provoked an intense debate within the parliamentary assemblies on the necessity to participate in the definition of the IEL International Documents not simply when ratifying or approving IEL agreements but also during the negotiation phase. It is thus necessary to focus research on the approach, for instance, of the European Parliament, the US Congress, the Canadian Parliament, etc. on the need and level of participation and access to internal documents concerning negotiations of IEL treaties and IEL soft law tools. It is also interesting to compare which possibilities national parliaments have to influence negotiations process.
More details on submission procedures at the call for papers link.
