Master 2020/2021

Law of Mega Trade Blocks and Regional Economic Integration

Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'

Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'

Type: Compulsory course (Law of International Trade, Finance and Economic Integration)

Area of studies: Law

Delivered by: School of International Law

Where: Faculty of Law

When: 1 year, 3, 4 module

Mode of studies: offline

Instructors: Vladimir Talanov

Master’s programme: Law of International Trade, Finance and Economic Integration

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 32

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course covers the fundamentals on regional integration and the related legal disciplines adopting both a political economy and a legal perspective. The course provides for a deeper immersion into the modern regional trade agreements with an analysis of the major economic zones (EU, USMCA, MERCOSUR), with particular attention given to regional integration on the post-Soviet territories and in Russia. The course explores the legal problems arising from the patchwork of the existing preferential trade agreements and the most controversial issue of a potential conflict between the rules of regional trade agreements, rules of the WTO and the national legislations. On the economic part, the course will cover the elementary economics of regional integration including the political economy of wide RTAs proliferation, the core ideas of trade creation and trade diversion, policy advice to RTAs drafters.

Learning Objectives

• The course is tailored to give the competences for: Policy advice for RTAs drafters; Regional trade agreements impact assessment; Interpretation and application of the RTAs; Legal implications for international dispute forum shopping.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• To analyze the landscape of RTAs, distribution and history of RTAs in major regions, features of RTAs;
• To reveal the underpinning reasons of the wide RTAs proliferation;
• To apply the diagnostic methodology to evaluate the economic impact of RTAs;
• To appreciate the legal complexities of regional trade agreements;
• To assess the actual tensions between the new generation of RTAs and the multilateral trading rules;
• To evaluate the role and place of Russia and other ex-Soviet states in the regional integration process, observe the recent developments of the Eurasian Union and Free-Trade Areas on the post-USSR territories, gain the understanding of the major contentious issues between the trading partners in the region;
• To be able to discuss the major legal problems arising out of multiple international agreements, apply major conflict resolution techniques, discuss the harmonization and fragmentation of the multilateral and regional dispute settlement regimes.
• Policy advice for RTAs drafters; Regional trade agreements impact assessment; Interpretation and application of the RTAs; Legal implications for international dispute forum shopping

Course Contents

• Introduction to Regional Integration
  Analysis of the ongoing economic integration processes. Types of agreements used for economic integration. Definition of a free trade area and a customs union. Monetary unions. Single economic space and common market. EU as a unique example of economic and political integration unit. Association agreements of the EU. Free movement of labour. ‘Deep integration’. The impact of regional trade agreements on the business activity in the constituent territories.
• The Political Economy of Regional Integration and Economics of Regionalism
  Political economy of regional trade agreements. Reasons behind regional trade agreements proliferation. Economics of regionalism. Viner dualism: trade creation vs. trade diversion. Methods to assess the economic impact of regional trade agreements. The Sussex framework. Practical tutorial: viability and potential economic effects of a free trade agreement between the EU and Russia.
• International Legal Framework on Regional Integration in Goods Trade
  WTO rules on MFN and regional trade liberalization. GATT 1947 Article XXIV. Free trade areas and customs unions. Single markets. Substantially all trade test. Interpretation by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. Turkey – Textiles. US – Line Pipe. Agreements with non-members of the WTO. Availability of trade remedies (anti-dumping, countervailing duties, safeguards).
• International Legal Framework on Regional Integration in Services Trade
  WTO rules on MFN and regional trade liberalization in the field of services trade. Article V of the GATS. Substantial sectorial coverage. Comparison of the regulatory mechanism with the GATT. Review of the current state of play of regional economic integration in services trade.
• Special and Differential Treatment Available to Developing Countries
  The Enabing Clause and its operation on the modern WTO framework. Flexibilities available to less developed countries. International classifications of countries based on their development level. Impact of national classifications. EC – Tariff Preferences.
• Key Trends in Modern Trade Agreements Drafting
  The major trends in modern RTAs drafting. General comparative review of USMCA, MERCOSUR, CARICOM, SACU. The EU as the most deeply integrated market. The EU and the US approaches towards regional trade agreements drafting. Practical tutorial: work in smaller groups, analysis of the texts of modern regional trade agreements, group discussion.
• Regional Trade Agreements in the former USSR region. Eurasian Economic Union.
  International organizations and agreements on the post-USSR area. Freedom of trade between the former Soviet Republics. Legal entanglement of regional trade arrangements. Practice of trade remedies application. The CIS movements towards free trade. The Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. Eurasian Economic Union: basic principles, policies, functioning and key institutions. The Court of the Eurasian Economic Union. Practical tutorial: work in smaller groups, review of the findings of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union, group discussion.
• Regional Trade Agreements and Further Fragmentation of International Law
  Conflict of international agreements. Rules of conflict resolution. Regional dispute settlement venues. Conflict of dispute settlement venues. Forum shopping before international tribunals. Mexico – Soft Drinks. Peru – Agricultural Products.

Assessment Elements

• Final Exam. Online.
• Written Assessment. Online.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (4 module)
  0.7 * Final Exam. Online. + 0.3 * Written Assessment. Online.

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Choi, W.-M. (2005). Legal Problems of Making Regional Trade Agreements with Non-WTO-Member States. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgi048
• Julien Chaisse, & Tsai-yu Lin. (2016). International Economic Law and Governance : Essays in Honour of Mitsuo Matsushita. OUP Oxford.
• Regional Trade Agreements and Domestic Regulation: What Reach for “Other Restrictive Regulations of Commerce.” (2006). Oxford University Press.
• Regional trade integration and conflict resolution Shaheen Rafi Khan (ed.) . International Development Research Centre. (2009).
• The Oxford handbook of comparative regionalism edited by Tanja A. Börzel and Thomas Risse. (2016).

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Gammage, C. (2017). North-South Regional Trade Agreements As Legal Regimes. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Takao Ohkawa, Makoto Tawada, Makoto Okamura, & Ryoichi Nomura. (2016). Regional Free Trade Areas and Strategic Trade Policies. Springer.