Le déficit démocratique de la mondialisation du droit économique et le rôle de la société civile
SUMMARY THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT OF GLOBALISED ECONOMIC LAW AND THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY The World Trade Organisation and the rules of the various multilateral and plurilateral agreements it administers, in particular the GATT and the agreements on GATS, TRIMS and TRIPS, are not only central to...
Enregistré dans:
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Français |
| Publié: |
2003
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | SUMMARY THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
OF GLOBALISED ECONOMIC LAW AND THE ROLE
OF CIVIL SOCIETY
The World Trade Organisation and the rules of the various multilateral and
plurilateral agreements it administers, in particular the GATT and the agreements
on GATS, TRIMS and TRIPS, are not only central to international trade, but the
pivots of economic and legal globalisation. This is the more true as, due to the dispute
settlement mechanism, the binding nature and enforcement of WTO-rules have been
enhanced. The pervasive nature of globalisation, however, is not paralleled by an
equally broad basis of legitimacy and of regulatory authority. In particular, as WTO
and the UN are non-specialized global, but separate international organizations,
issues of conflicts with primacy of fundamental rights may arise when WTO-rules are
developed, applied and enforced, and so do issues of respecting matters of public
interest in the applications of WTO-rules, such as considerations of the protection of
the environment, public health and labor standards, etc.
These issues just as the proper development, application and enforcement of WTO’s
rules strictly speaking become the more important as globalization progresses, and
they bring a no less intriguing issue to the fore, which is that WTO-Agreements have
been negotiated by States, that the application and enforcement is a matter mainly
for the States alone, and that, therefore, litigation and dispute settlement as well are
a matter for Member States’ government. The persons, which are concerned,
however, enterprises, consumers, the citizens in general and their associations, do
not have formal standing in either the rule-making process or as regards enforcement
of rules (and even on the domestic level, direct applicability of WTO-rules is an
exception, and accepted only by some Members). Of course, WTO might look to
citizens’ groups for advice as well as to companies. Citizens’groups and companies,
as many of their supporters claim, could be the principal members of an « international civil society ». The power of NGOs has increased in a globalised world. It has
to be recognised in WTO because national governments no longer have a monopoly
of information compared to corporations and civil society. The spread of democratic
government in poor countries, technological change and economic integrationglobalisation, have created fertile ground for the rise of NGOs. Globalisation itself
has exacerbated a host of worries : over the environment, labour rights, human
rights, consumer rights and so on. Democratisation and technological progress have
revolutionised the way in which citizens can unite to express their disquiet. We try,
here, to propose some answers to these questions. |
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