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25 June 2025
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Energy Sanctions Reloaded

The European Commission proposed a ban on Russian gas imports based on Article 207 TFEU – a legal basis related to the EU’s Common Commercial Policy, rather than the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Although the policy domains of trade and sanctions often overlap in practice, the new proposal seems to overlook that the EU maintains a distinct legal framework for imposing sanctions. If the ban is ultimately enacted under Article 207 TFEU, there is a risk that one or more Member States opposing these new sanctions against Russia will challenge it on the grounds that this EU Regulation is based on the wrong legal basis. Continue reading >>
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24 January 2025

One Step Further Towards Global Plutocracy

On his first day in office, US President Donald Trump signed dozens of Executive Orders on various issues. Among those receiving little public attention was the announcement of the US withdrawal from the OECD project on reforming global corporate taxation. This step, although expected, is a major setback for the only global plan aimed at increasing economic fairness that has any real chance of success. Continue reading >>
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01 May 2024

International Trade and “Embedded Emissions” after KlimaSeniorinnen

A key and underrated aspect of the recent triad of climate rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is that the ECtHR has brought to the fore the role of trade-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in states’ carbon footprints. While most international climate agreements focus on the reduction of domestic GHG emissions, in the Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland Judgment (KlimaSeniorinnen), the ECtHR found ‘attributable’ to Switzerland the GHG emissions taking place abroad, ‘embedded’ into goods (and possibly services) ‘consumed’ in Switzerland. As I will argue, the ruling appears to require Switzerland to adopt a climate-oriented trade policy. Continue reading >>
06 March 2023
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Feminist Foreign Trade Policy is a Demand of the EU Treaties

there is a strong basis for feminist trade policy in EU primary law. Arguably, any external action of the EU ought to be in compliance with basic considerations of feminist foreign policy. The key question is not if EU external action should comply with feminist foreign policy, but rather, how. Continue reading >>
25 May 2021

Unilateral Trade Measures in Times of Geopolitical Rivalry

The European Union’s unilateral trade policy is in motion. On 5 May 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation to tackle foreign subsidies; in March 2021, the Commission launched a public consultation on an ‘anti-coercion’ instrument. As the EU is entering a new era of economic statecraft, a new balance between democratic accountability and efficient decision-making is needed. Continue reading >>
05 January 2021

Dancing with the Dragon

On 30 December 2020, the EU Commission announced that the EU and China “in principle” concluded the negotiations on a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). So far, there has only been a limited assessment of the CAI from a human rights perspective which is problematic considering recent political developments in China. This leads to the question: How does the CAI measure against the standards of the constitutional law of the EU relating to its external relations? Moreover, it is doubtful that the agreement will meet the requirements prescribed by the European Parliament in this regard. Continue reading >>
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