Towards a Necessity Test for Services: A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action, Please!

48 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2008 Last revised: 28 Apr 2008

See all articles by Panos Delimatsis

Panos Delimatsis

Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC); Tilburg Law School

Date Written: August 2006

Abstract

A necessity test is a tool that reflects the balance between two potentially conflicting interests or challenges - the one being primarily domestic in nature, the other more international or multilateral in character. The domestic challenge stems from each country's prerogative to regulate in its own jurisdiction, while the international challenge relates to the aim to promote the progressive liberalization of trade in services. Experience gained in goods trade indicates that the principle of necessity can be a useful proxy allowing WTO adjudicating bodies to draw the dividing line between legitimate regulation and protectionist abuse. This paper explores the possibility of creating a necessity test that would be applicable to all service sectors. Such a horizontal test may yet emerge from the ongoing negotiations within the Working Party on Domestic Regulation (WPDR), which aim to fulfil the legal mandate contained in Article VI:4 GATS.

Keywords: World Trade Organization, General Agreement on Trade in Services, trade in services, Doha Development Round, services negotiations, domestic regulation, necessity test, regulatory reform, regulatory diversity, good governance, Regional Integration Agreements

JEL Classification: F13, F14, F15, K23

Suggested Citation

Delimatsis, Panagiotis, Towards a Necessity Test for Services: A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action, Please! (August 2006). NCCR Trade Regulation Working Paper No. 16/2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1088752 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1088752

Panagiotis Delimatsis (Contact Author)

Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) ( email )

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0031 13 466 8047 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/p-delimatsis

Tilburg Law School ( email )

Warandelaan 2
Postbus 90153
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/p-delimatsis

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