Regulatory Gaps in the Global Governance of Synthetic Biology. IES Policy Brief Issue 2014/11 • December 2014

Summary. Synthetic biology is an emerging technology with potentially far-reaching benefits and risks. As a cross-cutting issue, different aspects of synthetic biology fall within the scope of different international agreements. Contemporary biosafety and biosecurity frameworks are characterized by important regulatory gaps which policy makers need to address to minimize risks that may arise in the future both from commercial use and weaponization. In some cases, this may require formal treaty amendments, whereas others can possibly be resolved at lower levels, for instance through interpretive statements of treaties’ decision-making bodies.

Paper Tiger or Game-Changer? Challenges of and Opportunities for EU Engagement with the Eurasian Economic Union. Bruges Regional Integration & Global Governance Papers (BRIGG) 1/2015.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) started work on 1 January 2015. Considered as Russia’s response to the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP), it has been almost ignored in Brussels. However, with the Ukraine crisis and the deteriorating relations with Moscow, some European leaders have begun to reconsider Putin’s proposal for a region-to-region engagement. This paper tries to analyse under which conditions this could represent a long-term solution for a new European order. First, it is argued that the EEU is still far from being a credible international interlocutor. Second, Russia’s commitment to international trade rules and liberalization is questioned, whereas its geopolitical objectives seem predominant. EU engagement with the EEU in Ukraine would mean, in the short term, legitimizing Russia’s vision of a ‘bipolar Europe’ divided in spheres of influence. In the long run, prospects for inter-regional cooperation remain open, but the way to go is long and full of obstacles.

The European Union’s Regionalism Diplomacy in Africa: An English School Approach. Bruges Regional Integration & Global Governance Papers [BRIGG] #2.2015

This paper proposes an innovative analytical approach to regionalism promotion by the European Union (EU) in Africa. The approach pursues the dual aim of accommodating African approaches to regionalism in EU foreign policy analysis and of expounding the centrality of diplomacy in negotiating a renewed EU-African Union relationship. The concept of ‘regionalism diplomacy’ brings the negotiated and contentious nature of EU regionalism promotion to the fore. The paper espouses contemporary English School thinking about ‘international society’ and argues that EU regionalism promotion cannot just remain the expansion of European regional international society onto Africa. Instead, EU regionalism diplomacy should acknowledge and incorporate the anticolonial pan-African roots of African regionalism. Overall, the EU should seek a more diplomacy-focused, negotiated Africa-Europe interregional relationship. The paper concludes with an outline of a pan-African approach to regionalism diplomacy and avenues for future research.

A Progressive Promoter of Women’s Rights? Comparing EU Policy towards the ACP and the EMP Countries. Bruges Regional Integration & Global Governance Paper #3.2015

The paper offers an analysis of the degree to which two different external policy frameworks of the European Union (EU) have institutionalised and operationalised the EU’s commitment to women’s rights and gender equality. It compares the EU’s relations with the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries with the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), using Senegal and Morocco as case studies. Although the comparison shows some resemblances between the two cases, as a whole women’s rights seem more deeply embedded in the institutional framework of EU-ACP relations than that of Euro-Mediterranean relations, and this together with the EU’s approach towards implementation has enabled its women’s rights policy to be slightly more influential on the ground in Senegal than in Morocco. However, both EU-ACP and EMP frameworks have their limits, reflecting the more general problem of inconsistency between the EU’s declaratory objectives and its actual promotion of human rights.

The European Union and global governance:a handbook

The role of the European Union in global politics has been of growing interest over the past decade. The EU is a key player in global institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and NATO. It continues to construct an emerging identity and project its values and interests throughout contemporary international relations. The capacity of the EU to both formulate and realise its goals, however, remains contested. Some scholars claim the EU’s `soft power’ attitude rivals that of the USA’s `hard power’ approach to international relations. Others view the EU as insufficiently able to produce a co-ordinated position to project upon global politics. Regardless of the position taken within this debate, the EU’s relationship with its external partners has an increasingly important impact upon economic, political and security concerns on an international level. Trade negotiations, military interventions, democracy promotion, international development and responses to the global economic crisis have all witnessed the EU playing a central role. This has seen the EU become both a major force in contemporary institutions of global governance and a template for supranational governance that might influence other attempts to construct regional and global institutions. This volume brings together a collection of leading EU scholars to provide a state-of-the-art overview covering these and other debates relating to the EU’s role in contemporary global governance. The Handbook is divided into four main sections: Part I: European studies and global governance – provides an overview and critical assessment of the leading theoretical approaches through which the EU’s role in global governance has been addressed within the literature. Part II: Institutions – examines the role played by the key EU institutions in pursuing a role for the EU in contemporary international relations. Part III: Policy and issue areas – explores developments within particular policy sectors, assessing the different impact that the EU has had in different issue areas, including foreign and security policy, environmental policy, common commercial policy, the Common Agricultural Policy, development policy, accession policy, the Neighbourhood Policy and conflict transformation. Part IV: The global multilevel governance complex and the EU – focuses on the relationship between the EU and the institutions, regions and countries with which it forms a global multilevel governance complex, including chapters on the EU’s relationship with the WTO, United Nations, East Asia, Africa and the USA.

Global crises: Is the Keynesian recipe relevant if applied under a global governance?

Keynesian policy was quite successful in the post-war decades in Western Europe, but by the late 1960s lost its efficiency due to changes in conditions rather than its mistaken logic. The lesson from the first global crisis erupting in early 1970s and also from the subsequent several crises since then is that the increasing crisis propensity of the world economy is rooted in its inherent disequilibria stemming from deep inequalities, asymmetrical interdependencies and disintegrated socio-economic structures. In view of the failure of the prevailing methods of crisis management, particularly those undifferentiated, antisocial austerity measures corresponding to a neo-liberal monetarist concept which neglects this lesson, many economists prefer the Keynesian recipe. However, since global crises need global solution, and the spread of conspicuous consumption modify the demand constraint, its application must be adjusted to reality, and requires some global governance which may pave the way for a global oeco-social market economy.

The Application of a Pluralist Approach of Global Administrative Law on the Governance of Doping in Sport

Plusieurs problèmes liés à l'utilisation de substances et méthodes interdites de dopage dans les sports posent de grands défis à la gouvernance antidopage. Afin de lutter contre le dopage, certains pays ont mis en oeuvre des cadres juridiques basés exclusivement sur le droit pénal tandis que d'autres pays ont plutôt misé sur des mécanismes et organismes spécialisés trouvant fondement en droit privé ou sur un régime hybride de droit public et privé. Ces différentes approches réglementaires ont pour conséquence de faire en sorte qu’il est très difficile de lutter efficacement contre le dopage dans les sports, notamment parce que leur exécution requiert un degré de collaboration internationale et une participation concertée des autorités publiques qui est difficile à mettre en place. À l’heure actuelle, on peut par exemple observer que les États n’arrivent pas à contrer efficacement la participation des syndicats et organisations transnationales liés au crime organisé dans le marché du dopage, ni à éliminer des substances et méthodes de dopage interdites par la réglementation. Par ailleurs, la gouvernance antidopage basée sur les règles prescrites par l’Agence mondiale antidopage prévoit des règles et des normes distinctes de dopage distinguant entre deux catégories de personnes, les athlètes et les autres, plaçant ainsi les premiers dans une position désavantageuse. Par exemple, le standard de responsabilité stricte sans faute ou négligence imposé aux athlètes exige moins que la preuve hors de tout doute raisonnable et permet l'utilisation de preuves circonstancielles pour établir la violation des règles antidopages. S'appliquant pour prouver le dopage, ce standard mine le principe de la présomption d'innocence et le principe suivant lequel une personne ne devrait pas se voir imposer une peine sans loi. D’ailleurs, le nouveau Code de 2015 de l’Agence attribuera aux organisations nationales antidopage (ONADs) des pouvoirs d'enquête et de collecte de renseignements et ajoutera de nouvelles catégories de dopage non-analytiques, réduisant encore plus les droits des athlètes. Dans cette thèse, nous discutons plus particulièrement du régime réglementaire de l’Agence et fondé sur le droit privé parce qu’il ne parvient pas à répondre aux besoins actuels de gouvernance mondiale antidopage. Nous préconisons donc l’adoption d’une nouvelle approche de gouvernance antidopage où la nature publique et pénale mondiale du dopage est clairement reconnue. Cette reconnaissance combiné avec un modèle de gouvernance adapté basé sur une approche pluraliste du droit administratif global produira une réglementation et une administration antidopage mieux acceptée chez les athlètes et plus efficace sur le plan des résultats. Le nouveau modèle de gouvernance que nous proposons nécessitera toutefois que tous les acteurs étatiques et non-étatiques ajustent leur cadre de gouvernance en tenant compte de cette nouvelle approche, et ce, afin de confronter les défis actuels et de régler de manière plus satisfaisante les problèmes liés à la gouvernance mondiale du dopage dans les sports.

Global economics governance in the post-crisis world

The Great Crisis has made it clear once again that avoiding the derailment of globalization of trade and finance and the protecting the globe from fragmentation call for enhanced global cooperation and an efficient, flexible and coherent system of global governance. Three interconnected levels (national, regional, and global) comprise the system of global governance. This paper is dealing with some of the main issues of global economic governance in the post-crisis world. It reveals that the turbulence and the distress of the world of the early 21st century have deeper roots and broader sources than the crisis. Global governance therefore has to respond much broader set of challenges in comprehensive framework and long term perspective.

Los dilemas de la acción colectiva global. Un estudio de caso : el movimiento sindical en el MERCOSUR (1991-2012)

Resumen: Este trabajo analiza la acción colectiva sindical postnacional en el MERCOSUR en un período histórico signado por profundas mutaciones políticas, económicas, y productivas sociales (1991-2012) a partir de los relatos y representaciones de sus protagonistas. El trabajo cualitativo intentará explicar la configuración del sindicalismo internacional en la globalización, y describir las estrategias del movimiento obrero mercosureño. La metodología cualitativa ilustra un trabajo de campo a partir de entrevistas en profundidad a 34 sindicalistas del Mercosur, y entrevistas adicionales a tres representantes de la Confederación Sindical de las Américas, dos empresarios del Mercosur, un especialista académico en la dimensión sociolaboral de la integración regional y un representante de la OIT en la región. La metodología de análisis e interpretación de dichas entrevistas ha sido la teoría fundamentada, entendida como la técnica más idónea de aprehender los procesos sociales a través de las voces de los líderes obreros, comprender su realidad, sus representaciones y sistema de valores, sus ideas y su acción colectiva. La literatura de los movimientos sociales en la globalización capitalista ha puesto el énfasis en la emergencia de nuevos colectivos cuyos reclamos se concentran en el reconocimiento (Fraser y Honneth, 2006) de sus identidades que el modelo fordista de producción pareció invisibilizar y soslayar ante la primacía de las prácticas económicas y demandas distributivas. Esta tesis conjuga una perspectiva dualista y demuestra que las estrategias de reconocimiento y las reivindicaciones de redistribución de tipo clasista se resignificaron en el escenario postnacional a través de la Coordinadora de Centrales Sindicales del Cono Sur –CCSCS- (subregional) y, con un desarrollo menor: los Sindicatos Globales (FSI, GUFs) en la acción sectorial [1991-2012]. Para arribar al núcleo configurativo de sus representaciones y su sistema de valores, la investigación transitó por los sentidos y significados del trabajo, las mutaciones productivas y de las condiciones del trabajo, las teorías del fin del trabajo, la precarización y la representación de los trabajadores más frágiles: mujeres, jóvenes y migrantes. En un segundo orden se interpeló sobre la gobernanza mundial, los organismos internacionales, el régimen normativo internacional, la civilización capitalista, para luego abordar el estudio específico del Mercosur y la acción obrera en dicho proceso. El núcleo determinó que para los representantes obreros la acción colectiva sindical debe ser postnacional y su objetivo es limitar la globalización capitalista neoliberal. La CCSCS conformó desde sus inicios un movimiento capaz de elevarse al rango supranacional para representar la voz de los trabajadores del MERCOSUR. La pluralidad configuró su mayor virtud durante sus primeros 20 años, reconociendo una experiencia de aprendizaje de tolerancia y respeto, que ellos definen como la unidad en la diversidad. Esta entidad constituye un patrimonio único como paradigma del sindicalismo postnacional. Los sindicatos del Cono Sur adoptaron diversas modalidades de acción colectiva: a) reactiva (con repertorios de insubordinación, de lucha y resistencia al modelo neoliberal), b) proactiva (con repertorios de incidencia normativa en el MERCOSUR) y c) participativa (con repertorios de producción propositiva de incidencia en la dimensión social del MERCOSUR). Su acción colectiva reactiva, normativa y propositiva fue eficaz a mediano plazo para participar e incidir en el MERCOSUR, crear una dimensión social del bloque y dotar de derechos normativos a los ciudadanos de la región. Su acción tuvo un sentido político de gran poder instituyente, con capacidad movilización y alta exposición pública. Sin embargo, en la segunda década su lógica de construcción quedó subordinada a los procesos nacionales y a los partidos gobernantes, dejó de ser performativa y de creación política, dirimiéndose en la esfera social junto a otros movimientos sociales emergentes, y provocó un ciclo de desmovilización. Simultáneamente, emergió con fuerza otra modalidad de sindicalismo postnacional con la fusión y refundación de los Sindicatos Globales. Su acción sectorial contribuye a restaurar las demandas de distribución que habían quedado soslayadas, pero esta tesis manifiesta que los protagonistas afirman que sus marcos de acción colectiva deberán ser conjuntos para ser exitosa. El sindicalismo postnacional en el MERCOSUR se define a sí mismos como agente de desarrollo, protagonista del modelo socioproductivo, pero también como vehículo partícipe de la democracia y de una matriz sustentable de desarrollo

Biocombustíveis, governança global e comércio internacional: Rumo a um novo paradigma energético?

Considerando-se este importante momento de transição em que as tradicionais matrizes energéticas são paulatinamente substituídas por um conjunto de fontes renováveis, das quais os biocombustíves sobressaem-se pela capacidade de contribuir para o meio ambiente, trazendo igualmente benefícios econômicos e sociais a seus produtores; o presente trabalho visa contribuir para o panorama energético global que se começa a se delinear. Diante da impotência do Estado em lidar hodiernamente com determinadas questões, testemunha-se a participação de atores privados (organizações não governamentais, empresas transnacionais e sociedade civil, entre outros) atuando como vetores na transmissão de compromissos internacionais junto a estruturas nacionais para a solução de problemas comuns da humanidade. A essa nova arquitetura jurídica e política convencionou-se designar de governança global. Diante da inexistência de uma governança energética global que opere no interesse de países importadores, exportadores e investidores do setor de energia, agindo também como promotora de desenvolvimento social e econômico junto a países em desenvolvimento; e, por fim, em face da ausência de uma regulação internacional exclusiva na área energética, o presente estudo se dedica a investigar as possibilidades de disciplinamento do comércio internacional dos biocombustíveis. Admitindo-se o relevante desempenho que o Brasil detém na produção e exportação deste produto, inclusive na área tecnológica, a presente tese busca identificar o foro adequado, condições justas de produção, investimento, concessão de subsídios, adoção de medidas técnicas, de compra e venda, concorrência entre outros itens que o tema relaciona.