‘Shaken Not Stirred’: WTO as a Ground for Plurilateral Initiatives

Abstract

The negotiation work of the WTO is in the grip of the requirement that decision-making take place by consensus among all 164 members. At the same time, the shift in the political economy of trade negotiations towards plurilateralism is becoming increasingly evident. This begs the question of the perspectives of joint statement initiatives (JSI) on services domestic regulation, investment facilitation and e-commerce. This article discusses how to give legal effect to the negotiation outcomes in the WTO, with a particular focus on plurilateral initiatives. The need for additional ‘flexibilities’ that expand the ways to include plurilateral outcomes in WTO law is now more urgent than ever. At the same time, if plurilateralism is to be effective and sustainable, it must be linked to multilateral principles and norms. WTO, plurilateral outcomes, joint statement initiatives, trade rules, consensus