Effective Global Economic Governance by the World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) is the principalinternational institution for the management and regulationof the process of economic globalization. Its effectivenessin fulfilling this important task, however, leaves much to bedesired. On 4 and 5 February 2005, the Faculty of Law of MaastrichtUniversity organized an international research conference entitled‘In Search of Effective Global Economic Governance: TheCase of the World Trade Organization’. This conferencebrought together academics, WTO officials, government diplomats,national trade officials, representatives of business associationsand NGOs to discuss a wide range of issues, including: possibleimprovements to and alternatives for consensus decision-makingin the WTO; issues of transparency, democratic legitimacy andthe participation of civil society in WTO decision-making; secondarylaw-making by WTO bodies; and an expanded role for the WTO Secretariat.It is important that legal and political science scholars focustheir research efforts on the reforms needed to transform theWTO into an instrument of effective global economic governance.The main objective of the conference was, therefore, to definea comprehensive agenda for research into the institutional reformof the WTO. This article is, above all, a report of the conferenceand summarizes the main arguments made by the participants.