The EUI Information Society Working Group and International Economic Law and Policy Working Group are organizing an event featuring a discussion with Professor Elaine Fahey from the City Law School, City, University of London. Professor Fahey will present her recent work on the EU-US Trade and Technology (TTC), which is a crucial aspect of transatlantic cooperation in trade and technology to address global challenges. Moderated by Arianna Crosera, the presentation will be followed by a discussion with our researchers Emmanouil Bougiakiotis and Kunhao Yang, and open to all the participants.
The TTC takes effect against a backdrop of decades of complex disputes, regulatory cooperation failures and minimalistic combined multilateralism. It is avowedly opposed to regulatory cooperation and instead is fixated upon global challenges. It takes effect during a US administration prioritising soft law in international economic law, arguably increasingly influencing the EU. Indeed, ambiguity as to the term ‘trade agreement’ or the reflection that free trade agreements are ‘old-fashioned’ appears central to contemporary US Trade Representative ‘trade law logic’. Meanwhile, the EU announced a similar Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with India and has multiple new (non-binding) Digital Partnerships with Asian countries. The EU-US TTC has a complex and bifurcated approach to law that is explored here, arguably evident of its post-TTIP identity in an era of a shift away from trade agreements. Its soft law structures, executive to executive set-up and wide-ranging emphasis on international law-making goals contrasts considerably with certain developments in EU-US data and digital trade governance, involving hard law solutions.
There have been many so-called soft law transatlantic dialogues over the years and accordingly also it aligns well with broader new regimes in international economic law preferring soft law solutions and delegalisation of international economic law. Yet the TTC anchors itself in over 50 international law instruments and many global goals. The evolution of the TTC appears all the more remarkable as a form of possible incubator of global engagement. There, each ministerial statement has appeared to generate a wealth of bilateral initiatives in support of global norms, rules or standards but ostensibly minimalist legal goals. The breadth, numeracy and intensity of the number of references reflect a broader point that the TTC represents an important realignment of the bilateral EU-US relationship largely through a broader bigger-picture lens of the ‘global’. TTC raises certain important questions as to the place of global law-making goals and bilateralism and multilateralism in the complex transatlantic relationship in a complex field of law in the face of regulatory imbalances on trade and technology between the EU and US. The TTC takes effect in an era of soft international economic law emerging yet paradoxically alongside significant ‘hard’ or binding agreements between the EU and US on data flows.
The paper that is presented at the event considers by way of a descriptive account the place of global goals and international law in the TTC, examining its overtly legalistic framing yet heavily delegalised outcomes mediated through soft law.
About the speaker:
Elaine Fahey is a Professor of Law and Jean Monnet Chair in Law & Transatlantic Relations at the City Law School, City, University of London and Deputy Head of Department (academic programmes). Previously, she was a Max Weber Fellow (2009-2010) and visiting fellow (2010-2011) at EUI. Her research interests span the relationship between EU law and global governance, trade, transatlantic relations, the EU’s Area of Freedom, Security and Justice and the study of law beyond the State. Her monograph, The EU as a Global Digital Actor was published in 2022. You can find more of her work here.
About the Working Groups:
The INFOSOC (Information Society) Working Group is an interdisciplinary forum covering the broad theme of Information Society . Topics of interest include Internet governance, the societal, legal, and political impacts of new communications technology, digital trade, freedom of speech, and platform regulation. The InfoSoc WG offers the opportunity to interact with other researchers interested in similar topics, to get feedback on on-going papers and projects, to propose seminars with professors and policy-makers, and to remain updated on relevant EUI and external events related to the Information Society.
The International Economic Law and Policy Working Group is a researcher-led platform in EUI that brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss the multifaceted world of international trade and investment law as well as economic integration in the context of global legal order. Our Working Group is dedicated to an open atmosphere that welcomes participation from all interested individuals, including fellows, students, PhD researchers, professors, and visiting academics, to join us as speakers and discussants with diverse backgrounds and their original approaches. If you would like to receive updates about our Working Group events or join our email list, you can send us an email.