Author: Shaffer, Gregory

Source: Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 7, Number 3, September 2004 , pp. 629-654(26)

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract:

This article addresses the issue of parliamentary oversight of WTO rule-<?Pub Caret>making at the national and international levels. Parliamentarians’ views of alternative mechanisms for ensuring parliamentary control of the WTO tend to vary by jurisdiction. From a positive perspective, these views reflect power structures at the national, regional, and international levels, as well as parliamentarians’ experiences with supranational governance institutions. European political representatives are more accustomed to shared supranational governance institutions. They tend to propose expansion and adaptation of the EU model to address global governance challenges. US congressional representatives, in contrast, tend to be wary of how US ‘sovereignty’ and US power can be constrained through the WTO or any other global governance regime. They tend to oppose adding a parliamentary dimension. From a normative perspective, in order to meaningfully discuss WTO accountability we need a conceptual framework that permits us to assess the tradeoffs between different mechanisms for ensuring oversight, including parliamentary oversight, of the WTO. This article adopts a comparative institutional one. The article addresses the policy arguments for and against the addition of such a parliamentary dimension to the WTO and examines some of the many institutional challenges that would arise. The article maintains that the creation of a WTO parliamentary body should be judged in terms of its impact on the participation of less powerful stakeholders and, in particular of developing countries and their constituents, relative to other institutional alternatives.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2004-09-01

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• The Journal of International Economic Law is dedicated to encouraging thoughtful and scholarly attention to a very broad range of subjects that concern the relation of law to international economic activity, by providing the major English language medium for publication of high-quality manuscripts relevant to the endeavours of scholars, government officials, legal professionals and others. The emphasis will be on fundamental, long-term, systemic problems and possible solutions, in the light of empirical observations and experience, as well as theoretical and multi-disciplinary approaches. It is expected, therefore, that the journal's contents will potentially influence real events and provide important critiques of policies, negotiations, or court and tribunal cases. In this manner the journal should contribute modestly to promoting peace, world welfare and enhancement of the quality of life for all peoples.

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