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Achieving Sustainability through Bilateral Trade Agreements: A Comparative Legal Study on Sustainable Development Provisions in the EU’s Bilateral Trade Agreements

Hannibal, Muhammad Hafiz LU (2023) HARN63 20231
Department of Business Law
Abstract
Following the current global wave of sustainable development, the EU has been playing a leading role in reshaping the global trade landscape with its ambitious sustainable trade toolboxes. Particularly, the evolvement of sustainable development provisions in EU’s Bilateral Trade Agreements (BTA) have sparked growing discussions and debates in the legal arena. This study aims to analyse the role of these provisions in delivering sustainability to trading partners by comparing several selected EU’s BTAs, in particular with South Korea, Mercosur, and New Zealand. To achieve this goal, the study lays down a contextual argument on the implications of EU’s sustainable trade policies on its bilateral trade agreements and develops a legal... (More)
Following the current global wave of sustainable development, the EU has been playing a leading role in reshaping the global trade landscape with its ambitious sustainable trade toolboxes. Particularly, the evolvement of sustainable development provisions in EU’s Bilateral Trade Agreements (BTA) have sparked growing discussions and debates in the legal arena. This study aims to analyse the role of these provisions in delivering sustainability to trading partners by comparing several selected EU’s BTAs, in particular with South Korea, Mercosur, and New Zealand. To achieve this goal, the study lays down a contextual argument on the implications of EU’s sustainable trade policies on its bilateral trade agreements and develops a legal analytical matrix with parameters consisting of social provisions, environmental provisions, institutional frameworks, and dispute settlement mechanisms. The study finds that sustainable development provisions in the EU’s BTAs bind the parties to implement sustainable development principles, with commitments varying among agreements based on different characteristics, priorities, and challenges. While all agreements have similarities in setting out core commitments related to international labour and environmental standards, the level of obligations significantly differs. The study also identifies evolving legal challenges and proposes recommendations to overcome them. In general, despite its limited extent in demonstrating a constructive model, sustainable development provision is a step in the right direction in developing a mechanism in pushing for a more sustainable trade practice. (Less)
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author
Hannibal, Muhammad Hafiz LU
supervisor
organization
course
HARN63 20231
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Sustainable Development Provision, Sustainable Development, Bilateral Trade Agreement, Trade Agreement, Environment, Social, Climate Change, Labour, EU-South Korea, EU-Mercosur, EU-New Zealand.
language
English
id
9122952
date added to LUP
2023-06-15 14:07:49
date last changed
2023-06-15 14:07:49
@misc{9122952,
  abstract     = {{Following the current global wave of sustainable development, the EU has been playing a leading role in reshaping the global trade landscape with its ambitious sustainable trade toolboxes. Particularly, the evolvement of sustainable development provisions in EU’s Bilateral Trade Agreements (BTA) have sparked growing discussions and debates in the legal arena. This study aims to analyse the role of these provisions in delivering sustainability to trading partners by comparing several selected EU’s BTAs, in particular with South Korea, Mercosur, and New Zealand. To achieve this goal, the study lays down a contextual argument on the implications of EU’s sustainable trade policies on its bilateral trade agreements and develops a legal analytical matrix with parameters consisting of social provisions, environmental provisions, institutional frameworks, and dispute settlement mechanisms. The study finds that sustainable development provisions in the EU’s BTAs bind the parties to implement sustainable development principles, with commitments varying among agreements based on different characteristics, priorities, and challenges. While all agreements have similarities in setting out core commitments related to international labour and environmental standards, the level of obligations significantly differs. The study also identifies evolving legal challenges and proposes recommendations to overcome them. In general, despite its limited extent in demonstrating a constructive model, sustainable development provision is a step in the right direction in developing a mechanism in pushing for a more sustainable trade practice.}},
  author       = {{Hannibal, Muhammad Hafiz}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Achieving Sustainability through Bilateral Trade Agreements: A Comparative Legal Study on Sustainable Development Provisions in the EU’s Bilateral Trade Agreements}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}