Simon Lester

From a new paper by Thomas Schultz and Cedric Dupont: We consider three main hypotheses about the functional effects of investment arbitration. They form three models or candidate-theories of the functions that investment arbitration may empirically have: (1) investment arbitration serves to champion and strengthen the interests of economic powers

From the FT: The US has proposed that EU regulators be required to publish the proposed texts of regulations and open them to public comment. It also wants regulators to be required to consider comments and explain why they had adopted – or failed to adopt – outside suggestions when they finalise

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman recently gave a speech at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. One of his goals seemed to be to convince people on the left of the political spectrum that trade is not something to be feared. In doing so, he focused

From Transnational Dispute Management: The formidable scale and pace of economic and legal development in the Pacific Rim region offers considerable opportunities, but also carries certain risks. The forthcoming Pacific Rim TDM Special Issue will collect views of experienced practitioners, academics, and policymakers on key economic and legal opportunities and

A while back I asked: if NAFTA gets subsumed in the TPP, would that satisfy Obama's campaign pledge to renegotiate NAFTA? It appears that maybe U.S. Trade Rep. Froman is thinking along the same lines: “As a candidate for President, then-Senator Obama said he would renegotiate NAFTA,

It's always nice when I run across a piece of scholarship that appears to confirm my instincts (in this case, that U.S. and EU regulation are not really all that different): The regulation of health and environmental risks has generated transatlantic controversy concerning precaution and the precautionary

One of the criticisms of the TPP from some U.S. groups is that its rules on the environment might not be strict or enforceable enough.  (See, e.g., this NY Times article). But not everyone thinks trade agreements should take on this task.  Here's an example from

From my friends at the Graduate Institute: The Graduate Institute of Geneva is offering up to 5 research fellowship for short-term period (3 months) in the context of the EU-funded Marie-Curie Initial Training Network “DISSETTLE” (Dispute Settlement in Trade: Training in Law and Economics). The basic gross salary is in

This is from Article 22.1 (general exceptions) of the just released Australia-Korea FTA: 3. For the purposes of Chapter 11 (Investment), subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between investments or between investors, or a disguised

From the Australia-Korea FTA: ARTICLE 20.5: RULES OF INTERPRETATION ... Where an obligation under this Agreement is identical or substantially identical to an obligation under the WTO Agreement, the panel shall adopt an interpretation which is consistent with any relevant interpretation established in rulings of the DSB. ... So what happens