Non-direct effect WTO law and EU

De Europese Unie (EU) heeft na de Tweede Wereldoorlog een belangrijke rol gespeeld in het stimuleren van de wereldhandel door een internationaal handelssysteem te ontwikkelen. Van de internationale overeenkomsten die de EU heeft ondertekend, is het WTO-recht relevant voor dit onderzoek, aangezien verschillende uitspraken van het Europese Hof van Justitie (hierna: HvJ EU/HvJ/Hof) aangetoond hebben dat het WTO-recht, voorheen bekend als de General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), geen directe werking heeft in het rechtsstelsel van de EU.

De vraag die binnen deze minithesis beantwoord wordt is het volgende:

Wat zijn de gevolgen voor de rechtspositie van individuen wanneer het Europese Hof duidelijk aangeeft dat de deur voor directe werking van WTO-recht in het rechtssysteem van de EU gesloten blijft?

Hieronder kunt u de minithesis teruglezen in het Engels.

The European Union (EU) has played an important role, after World War II, by developing an international trading system. Among the international agreements that the EU has signed, the World Trade Organization (WTO) law is relatively relevant, especially given the question whether it has direct effect in the EU’s legal system.

The issue of the direct functioning of WTO law in the EU legal system has kept the discussion going on for decades. Just as Hélène Ruiz Fabri has mentioned in her article international law does not carry direct effect in its DNA and direct effect of international treaties is not generally and proportionally widespread, several rulings of the European Court of Justice (CJEU/ ECJ/ Court) have shown us that WTO law, formerly known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), does not require direct effect in the EU legal system.

These rulings of the CJEU seem, with regard to the direct effect of WTO law, not surprising, given the consistent case law of the CJEU which states that WTO law does not have direct effect within the EU legal system. Following the verdict of the Court concerning the non direct effect of the WTO law in the EU legal system, the question can be asked what this verdict means for individuals. The meaning of “individual”, in this mini thesis, is ‘an actor participating in the market and pursuing his, her or its self interests. Such actors can be natural persons, business corporations, partnerships, cooperatives or legal persons. They operate as producers, consumers, service providers, exporters or a combination thereof’. In the case where a WTO member does not comply with the WTO rules and is targeted by trade sanctions, the individuals who in practice, bear the burden of these sanctions, are deprived of any recourse within the EU legal system. This may be considered unfair because both the protection and direct representation of the individual seems to be scarce.

The question that will be answered within this mini thesis is what the consequences are for the legal position of individuals when the European Court clearly indicates that the door for direct functioning of WTO law in the EU’s legal system remains closed.

You can find the paper here.