It is a truism to state that global multilateral economic governance is in a state of turmoil. The WTO has not been able to deliver on the Doha Round and faces an existential crisis, with its Appellate Body ceasing to function in December. But also, other international economic institutions, from the IMF and World Bank to the OECD, face testing times. This even applies to the informal “clubs” of economic governance, such as the G7 and G20, where the sense of common purpose has been tainted in the last years. In such a turbulent context, the European Union has set itself the daunting task of keeping the flame of multilateralism alive. This lecture critically looks at the EU’s institutional features and policies in order to assess whether it can effectively preserve the multilateral rules-based order. Not being a state, having only attributed powers and a rather complicated system of international representation, and adding to what other players often see as “too many Europeans in the room”, it may not be obvious for the EU to succeed in its endeavours.
Speaker: Jan Wouters. Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance, founding Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, KU Leuven.
Sponsors: RCC; Harvard European Law Association; Jean Monnet ad Personam Chair in European Union Law and Government.
Date: Friday, November 8, 2019, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location: Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, WCC 3018