Category: European Union (page 1 of 2)

Insights from the Conference on Trade Negotiations, Trade Policy, and Law-Making in an Era of Soft Law

By: Nouf Ali S AlGazlan

With a new era come new challenges. So, what are the challenges of the rise of ‘soft law’ in lieu of trade agreements? The conference, organised by Professor Elaine Fahey at City Law School entitled “Trade Negotiations, Trade Policy and Law-Making in an Era of Soft Law” explored not only the possible challenges of such non-binding agreements, but also their effectiveness, impact, and most importantly, whether the EU is emerging as a leader or laggard in this new era. Below is a summary of each panel’s discussions, where experts including academics, practitioners and think-tanks came together to discuss such issues.

 

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City-EIAG Seminar

REBUILDING RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UK AND THE EU

A Security Cooperation Pact and Other Ideas for Strengthening the Relationship

City Law School

28 February 2024 at 6pm

The City Law School, City, University of London and the European and International Analysts Group (EIAG), supported by Henderson Chambers, invite you to a seminar to discuss a possible security pact between the UK and the EU and other ideas for strengthening the post-Brexit relationship.

A background paper to the seminar by Sir Julian King, and published by the EIAG, can be found here.

The world has changed since Brexit. Security and defence challenges have become more urgent and more diverse. Russia is waging a relentless war of conquest against Ukraine and there are grounds for uncertainty as to the long-term commitment of the United States to European defence. Add to that, increasing instability in the Middle East, spilling over into the interruption of the economically vital trade-route through Suez, and an increasingly aggressive international stance by the world’s authoritarian powers. Taking all this into account, the security situation in Europe is arguably more perilous than at any time since the end of World War II.

The UK and the EU face the same challenges, and could face them with more confidence together. With Brexit behind us, how should the UK set about re-framing its relationship with its neighbourhood, as one rooted in and justified by the reality of today’s challenges?

The seminar will explore the prospects for developing a new security pact between the UK and the EU, and other practical opportunities there may be for moving towards a closer and more structured relationship in the future.

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Will the UK’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism violate WTO law?

Professor David Collins, City Law School

Last week Jeremy Hunt, the UK Chancellor, announced that the UK would pursue implementation of its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The EU adopted its own CBAM which is due to go into effect gradually over the next few years – it is currently in an information-gathering stage.

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NextGenerationEU: EU’s Trojan horse for a silent constitutional transition?

Christos Karetsos, City Law School

On the 2 October 2023 at City, University of London, Institute for the Study of European Laws (ISEL), Professor Peter L. Lindseth and Professor Päivi Leino-Sandberg presented their research project in progress, titled ‘‘Beyond ‘As If’ Constitutionalism: Revenue, Borrowing, and Spending in the New Regime of European Integration.’’ This blog post outlines the key ideas of the presentation and the discussion that followed.

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The ‘sidelining’ of the European Parliament from the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC): TTC(s) as post-Democracy Divas or Disasters?

Professor Elaine Fahey, Institute for the Study of European Law, City Law School, City, University of London

The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC)

Transatlantic Trade and Technology Council (TTC) has been set up quickly by the European Union (EU) with the US at the outset of the US Biden administration. It is not a trade negotiation and does not adhere to any specific Article 218 TFEU procedure, although it has many signature ‘EU’ characteristics. The TTC has high-minded goals to ‘solve’ global challenges on trade and technology with its most significant third country cooperating partner.  Yet it is notably not the only recent Council proposed by the EU- there is also a new EU-India Trade and Technology Council. These new Councils represent a new modus operandi for the EU to engage with ‘complex’ partners, comprising executive to executive engagement, meeting agency counterparts regularly in close groups in an era of EU trade policy deepening its stakeholder and civil society ambit overall. The TTC has a vast range of policy-making activities, traversing many areas of EU law.  Their precise selection and future is difficult to understand in EU regional trade and data policy, seemingly pivoting, like US trade law, to executive-led soft law.

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Facebook/Meta Oversight Board: International and Regional Law Applications

Giulia Alves Maia

The Facebook / Meta Oversight Board (OB) is one of the most novel developments in law and governance in recent years. The Oversight Board has ignited a major debate about its character, form, operation, and effects. It has been modelled as a “Facebook Supreme Court”, and its structure and style of its reasoning, as well as its use of precedent, give the appearance that the OB operates in a similar way to a court. On 26 April 2023, City Law School hosted a hybrid event entitled The Facebook/Meta Oversight Board: International and Regional Law Applications to discussion these and other issues.

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Eurovision: even before the singing starts, the contest is a fascinating reflection of international rules and politics

Paul James Cardwell, King’s College London and Jed Odermatt, City, University of London

The Eurovision bandwagon has firmly arrived in Liverpool. During a week of two semi-finals, 37 competing countries will be whittled down to 26. Around 160 million people are then expected to tune in to the grand final on Saturday May 13. From humble beginnings in 1956, with only seven countries competing in a theatre in Switzerland, the contest is now one of the most watched entertainment events in the world.

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City Law School Researchers take part in Global Challenges Research Exchange

Eva Pander Maat and Pia Rebelo

Monday April 18th marked the kick-off of the Global Goals Research Exchange between the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen and City Law School at City, University of London. The Exchange presents an excellent opportunity to promote collaborative ties between legal researchers doing work in the topical areas of energy transitions and sustainable development. In the first iteration of the exchange, two City Law School researchers crossed the channel to present and discuss their work.

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Sunak’s Windsor Compromise

David Collins

The Windsor Framework (WF) concluded between the UK and EU to resolve the difficulties associated with the Irish Border reflects a significant compromise, with the UK giving the most ground. The brainchild of a more pliant and technocratic Prime Minister than his two predecessors, Rishi Sunak’s WF is in many respects an agreement that should never have been needed. The new arrangement essentially compels the EU to do what it should have done under the original Northern Ireland Protocol, i.e. impose no unreasonable barriers to trade between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) while maintaining sufficient safeguards that its Single Market would not be flooded with UK goods.

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The Gendered Aspect of Brexit

When the UK went to the polls on 23 June, 2016 and voted to leave the European Union, the millions of EU citizens who were resident in the UK but unable to take part in the referendum were suddenly faced with a life-changing loss of rights. The end of freedom movement threatened their livelihoods and their very status as UK residents in the post-Brexit world. Continue reading

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