Mega-Regional Trade Agreements

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. Setting the Scene

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Mega-Regionals: Challenges, Opportunities and Research Questions

      • Peter-Tobias Stoll

      Pages 3-24

3. Strategic and Structural Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-25

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   2. The Strategic Dimension of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

      • Edouard Bourcieu

      Pages 27-36

   3. Democratic Legitimacy of the CETA and TTIP Agreements?

      • Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann

      Pages 37-59

   4. Not As Preferential As You May Think: How Mega-Regionals Can Benefit Third Countries

      • Joost Pauwelyn

      Pages 61-74

   5. Exception Clauses in Mega-Regionals (International Investment Protection and Trade Agreements)

      • Armand de Mestral, Lukas Vanhonnaeker

      Pages 75-119

4. Liberalisation and Protection of Foreign Investment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121

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   2. The Brave New (American) World of International Investment Law: Substantive Investment Protection Standards in Mega-Regionals

      • Stephan W. Schill, Heather L. Bray

      Pages 123-154

   3. Interactions Between Investment Chapters in Mega-Regionals and Bilateral Investment Treaties

      • Karsten Nowrot

      Pages 155-187

5. Innovation and International Property Rights

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 189-189

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   2. The Prospects of TRIPS-Plus Protection in Future Mega-Regionals

      • Thomas Cottier, Dannie Jost, Michelle Schupp

      Pages 191-215

   3. Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Increasing the Barriers for the Access to Affordable Medicines

      • Carlos M. Correa

      Pages 217-239

   4. Safeguarding Public Welfare? Intellectual Property Rights, Health and the Evolution of Treaty Drafting in International Investment Agreements

      • Bryan Mercurio

      Pages 241-271

6. Energy Governance and the Green Economy

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 273-273

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   2. The Role of Mega-Regionals in the Decarbonization of the Economy

      • Christopher Frey

      Pages 275-297

   3. Liberalizing Trade in Energy Services and Domestic Regulation: New Approaches in Mega-Regionals?

      • Markus Krajewski

      Pages 299-316

7. Emerging Trends in Other Regulatory Areas

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 317-317

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   2. Trade Agreements and International Cooperation on Public Procurement Regulation

      • Bernard Hoekman

      Pages 319-336

This book provides an in-depth analysis of "Mega-Regionals", the new generation of trans-regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) currently under negotiation, and their effect on the future of international economic law. The main focus centres on the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), but the findings are also applicable to similar agreements under negotiation, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The specific features of Mega-Regional Trade Agreements raise a number of issues with respect to their potential effect on the current system of international trade and investment law. These include the consequences of Mega-Regionals for the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principle, their relation to the multilateral system of the World Trade Organization (WTO), their democratic legitimacy and their interaction with existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs).
The book is intended for academics and practitioners working in the field of international economic law.

• TTIP negotiations
• Democratic legitimacy
• Trade agreements
• Investment protection standards
• Patent protection
• Intellectual property rights
• International investment agreements
• Environmental goods
• Environmental regulation
• Non-tariff barriers
• Liberalising trade
• EU energy sector
• Labour standards
• Competition law
• Government procurement

“Mega-Regional Trade Agreements sheds light on many important aspects and implications of current trends towards greater regionalisation in global trade and its multilevel governance related to megaregionals. Overall, it represents a useful contribution to a much-needed discussion on this area of international law.” (Ondřej Svoboda, The Lawyer Quarterly, Vol. 9 (2), 2019)

• Faculty of Law, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany

  Thilo Rensmann

Thilo Rensmann, Professor at Faculty of Law, University Augsburg, Germany

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