EUの自由貿易協定（FTA）の特徴と影響

Abstract

This article analyzes various environmental clauses incorporated in the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) concluded by the EU from the perspective of “fragmentation” and “multilateralisation.”While the surge of FTAs leads to a risk of causing fragmentation stemming from the divergence in the interpretations of provisions in the FTAs and those stipulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO), it holds the potential of creating new multilateral provisions through the multilateralisation of advanced bilateral rules. The EU, one of the hubs in the web of FTAs, plays a critical role in these processes. In order to examine the potential of processes, environmental clauses were selected for study since these clauses tend to vary among the agreements.Currently, the environmental clauses in the WTO are limited to the general exception clauses or similar provisions. Therefore, many countries, including the EU, place high hopes on the FTAs when developing environmental clauses.When incorporating environmental clauses in its FTAs, the EU introduces provisions relating to: ⒜ general exceptions; ⒝ prohibition of encouragement of trade by reducing the level of environmental protection; ⒞ encouragement of high levels of environmental protection; ⒟ the relationship with Multilateral Environmental Agreements; ⒠ adoption of international standards; ⒡ the precautionary principle; and ⒢ environmental goods and services. All but ⒜ are additional to the WTO (WTO-extra) and ⒟ to ⒢ are pioneering provisions in the sense that other counties’ FTAs do not contain such rules or even provide for them in a modest way. These additional provisions constitute the context of general exception clauses, thereby promoting diversification of the interpretation of the clauses in the FTAs and the WTO.Findings reveal that the EU is steadily expanding the scope of environmental clauses in its FTAs. Furthermore, some of those WTO-extra environmental provisions are also adopted in the FTAs concluded by other countries, encouraging a propensity for multilateralisation. However, other EU-specific provisions are likely to promote fragmentation of rules. Accordingly, while the EU’s FTAs would contribute to the advancement of environmental clauses in trade agreements, they also contain some risks for creating the situation that disputes are not settled effectively owing to the incoherence of rules between the FTAs and the WTO. Therefore, the EU must be cautious in establishing environmental clauses when these clauses are unlikely to be extended multilaterally.