Prisoners of Our Own Device

“We are all just prisoners here, of our own device”: regulating transnational subsidies between domestic and international law

Abstract

Transnational subsidies, that is subsidies across jurisdictions, are a phenomenon of our times and are difficult to square within the four corners of the WTO rule-book. This talk will first investigate the different approaches of the EU and the US in regulating transnational subsidies. In so doing, it will explore the different (or similar?) approaches to international law across the Atlantic. The lecture will then conclude with the analysis of the issues before the WTO Panel in EU – CV/AD on Steel products from Indonesia (DS 616) which recently published its report. We will comment on the Panel’s findings and implications, on what the Panel did and on what it should have done. Ultimately, the lecture is about the different shapes international law can take - domestically and internationally.

Speaker
Professor Luca Rubini, University of Milan and University of Birmingham

Luca Rubini is Associate Professor in International Law at the University of Milan, Italy, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Previously he held positions at the Law Schools of the University of Turin, University of Birmingham (where he was Reader in International Economic Law) and Leicester. He is visiting professor to the World Trade Institute (Switzerland) and the Freie Universität Berlin and visiting fellow to the Centre of European Law of King’s College London. Sometime in the past he served as legal secretary in the cabinet of Advocate General Jacobs at the European Court of Justice.

Chair
Dr Isidora Maletic, King's College London

Dr Isidora Maletić is a Reader in Law (Education), as well as a Member of the Advisory Board and Fellow of the Centre of European Law at King’s College London. Dr Maletić has been recognised as a Principal Fellow (PFHEA) pursuant to the UK Professional Standards Framework.

Discussant
Professor Federico Ortino, King's College London

Federico Ortino is Professor of International Economic Law, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Governance and Dispute Resolution (CIGAD) at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. He is one of the general editors of the International Trade and Investment Law Series with Hart Publishing; editorial/advisory board member of the Journal of International Economic Law, Journal of International Dispute Settlement and Journal of World Investment and Trade. He is a member of the Academic Forum on ISDS Reforms and consultative member of the Investment Treaty Forum.

He has written extensively on both world trade law and international investment law. Among his recent books The Origin and Evolution of Investment Treaty Standards: Stability, Value and Reasonableness (OUP, 2019) and The Oxford Handbook on International Arbitration (OUP, 2020, co-edited with Thomas Schultz). He has been involved as expert in projects with UNCTAD, ITC, OECD, IISD and WEF. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Stockholm, Catolica Lisbon, University of Verona, University of Barcelona, New York University, and the University of Sydney. He is a Consultant to Clifford Chance advising governments and private companies on international trade law matters.

Following this event will be a free drinks reception. Please do join us.

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