This volume considers how different jurisdictions are integrated economically whilst at the same time maintaining regulatory pluralism and diversity.

This book offers the first overview of services regulation in the EU, tracing its history from early, sector-specific interventions to the complex modern landscape of 'new governance' techniques. It sets the legal developments in their economic context and critiques the varied regulatory methods with which the EU has experimented.

Both in WTO law and EU law there is a dichotomy between liberalisation based on market access and targeting domestic regulation. Consequently, both regimes share the problem of distinguishing national measures impairing market access and those that do not have such effect. Looking at the provision of services, a cornerstone of EU substantive law, in the EU and the WTO this book offers a comprehensive evaluation of the current legal status quo on transnational services provision on a global level. Based on thorough analysis of both EU and WTO law, policymakers are provided with concrete proposals for fostering the consistency and effectiveness of the current regime. A final chapter discusses possible approaches to regulation such as home state rule, host state rule and mutual recognition from a comparative perspective. Written by a highly respected author team, this is essential reading for EU internal market specialists and WTO law scholars alike.

A comprehensive analysis of GATS that considers its historical context, the national preferences that shaped it, and a path to a GATS 2.0. The previous two volumes in The Regulation of International Trade analyzed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the first successful agreement to generate multilateral trade liberalization, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), for which the GATT laid the groundwork. In this third volume, Petros Mavroidis turns to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a WTO treaty that took effect in 1995, and offers a comprehensive analysis that considers the historical context of the GATS, the national preferences that shaped it, and a path to a GATS 2.0.

This book considers how the interplay between multilateral and preferential liberalisation of trade in services increasingly raises concerns, both from the perspective of the beneficiaries of such liberalisation (whose rights are uncertain) and that of regulators (whose regulatory autonomy is constrained). The author shows how these concerns lead to vast underutilisation of, and strong prejudices against, the benefits of services liberalisation. The book meticulously analyses and compares the EU's obligations under the GATS and the services chapters of several RTAs to finally assess the merits of the raised concerns.

Like tariffs and other border measures, national regulatory barriers impede international trade. Unlike tariffs, however, such barriers usually indicate an important domestic policy choice. This 'conflict of interest' has emerged as a crucial issue in international law, particularly with regard to services, such as telecommunications and health services. This study is the first to analyze the potential impact of incompatibilities between national regulatory regimes and the rules and obligations imposed by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In the process of arriving at his challenging concluding theses, the author investigates such relevant concepts as the following: the political and ideological dynamics of GATS negotiations services trade liberalization in regional integration systems, particularly in EC law policies common to diverse national regulatory systems the notions of 'deregulation' and 'privatization' the human rights implications of international trade law the GATS obligations of market access, national treatment, and most-favoured-nation treatment the role of the WTO's dispute settlement organs GATS transparency obligations Professor Krajewski's study is of enormous significance to specialists in regulatory policies and instruments at all national and sectoral levels, especially in the context of ongoing GATS negotiations. As the author warns: Unless GATS negotiators and national regulators have a thorough understanding of the relationship between GATS obligations and regulatory policies and instruments, they cannot effectively use the flexible elements of GATS and could reach an agreement which they may later regret.

The internationalization of legal services and the development of corporate law firms have led to profound changes in the practice of law, giving it a more commercial and international focus. These changes, coupled with a general intolerance of restrictions to competition, have led governments to reconsider the way they regulate the profession. Liberalization of trade in legal services takes place both at the multilateral level within the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and at the regional level within preferential trade agreements (PTAs). This book analyses the liberalization process that takes place at both levels. It is the first publication to undertake an in-depth analysis of the obligations contained in these agreements. Starting from an overview of the regulations related to legal services – and focusing on barriers to cross-border legal services that result from these regulations – the analysis goes a long way towards pinpointing which regulations should be removed and which adopted or preserved in order to facilitate international trade in legal services. Insightful considerations explore the cross-border features of such elements as the following: cross-border mergers and acquisitions; intellectual property rights; new financial instruments; business-to-business dispute resolution mechanisms; business permits; company formation; tax burdens; regulatory compliance; transparency rules; residency and local presence requirements; restrictions on (e.g.) ownership, investment, entry, fee-setting, and advertising; and extension of accountancy disciplines to legal services. Noting that the most successful global law firms are not those that impose one single culture but rather those that harmonize many cultures around shared core values and a consistent approach to clients, the author has produced a timely and far-reaching work that is highly relevant for international legal practice. It is sure to be warmly welcomed by legal practitioners, government officials and policymakers in the legal services sector, and advisors at governments and international organizations, as well as by academics and researchers.

Providing a guide to the EU Trade Barrier Regulation (TBR), and examining the law, procedures and policy issues, this book explains the procedures under the TBR for resolving international trade disputes, and shows how the TBR inter-relates with World Trade Organisation rules.

This book provides an extensive and critical assessment of the current regulatory and supervisory framework of investment services in the European Union (EU) and proposes alternative institutional structures. Recent trends in financial services at EU level as well as regulatory and institutional developments at national level make the focus of this book very timely. The book contributes to the debate by making specific suggestions with regard to the institutional structure and the operational sphere of a central pan-European regulator.

Providing the first comprehensive examination of the key regulatory disciplines included in the new generation of EU free trade agreements (FTAs), this book investigates the EU's supposed deep trade agenda through a legal analysis of these FTAs. In doing so, Billy A. Melo Araujo determines whether there is any substance behind the EU's foreign policy rhetoric regarding the need to introduce regulatory issues within the remit of international trade law. At a time when the EU is busily negotiating so-called 'mega-FTAs', such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the plurilateral Trade in Services Agreement (TISA), Melo Araujo offers a timely insight into the important questions raised by such FTAs, in particular concerning the future of the multilateral trade system, the loss of policy autonomy, and the democratic legitimacy of regulating through treaty-making. The book provides a detailed analysis of the regulatory disciplines included in the more recent EU FTAs and explores the possible implications of such disciplines. Offering a significant contribution to a wider debate, this is a must read for those interested in the legal dimension of the EU's deep trade agenda.