Europe’s Global Responsibility to Govern Trade and Investment

This paper examines the progress made forging a Sustainable Development Strategy of the European Union on the basis of three structures of the global economy: trade, investment and knowledge generation. It identifies deficits in all three, and cites alternatives for improvement such as acknowledging ecological debt and setting up a Global Marshall Plan. It outlines how over the medium term compatibility with trade law could be maintained, and how Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIA) could cushion the effects of the current governance regimes. It then considers alternatives such as expansion of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). Guidance is given regarding reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the question as to whether the investment regime can be governed multilaterally and, if so, at which venue