In the end of September, a group of senior trade officials met in Geneva, to initiate a preparatory discussion on the future of the WTO. The debate will be further addressed on October 24-25 at ministerial level by 13 WTO members, a.k.a. the “coalition of the willing”, including the EU, Canada and Japan. Calls for reform spread as Trump’s administration stubbornly blocked the Dispute Settlement System for years, reaching a breaking point last month.
READ MOREWhilst Free Trade Agreements cause protests around the globe, the debates surrounding China´s WTO accession have largely escaped public turmoil – remarkably so. Hovering in a depoliticized, neutral jargon, technocrats have successfully reframed the latter into a matter of economic criteria, minimizing their divided political views. Europe however should speak one voice, one that is not misguided by the utopia of extreme globalization, yet aware of the political and social stakes that remain.
READ MORE