Regulatory Safeguards in Mega-regionals against Sovereignty Loss

Abstract

Trade and investment agreements are disputed because they limit the regulatory autonomy of national legislatures of participating countries. This is particularly true of mega-regionals given their expanded scope. On that account, negotiators build safe-guards into the agreements with a view to containing the intrusion into the national legal order. The debate revolves around whether the envisaged safeguards are sufficient to achieve that goal or whether, de lege ferenda, more needs to be done to find the right power balance. The present essay, first of all, elucidates the extent of sovereignty loss as a result of mega-regionals, and secondly, explores some options to secure policy space for national lawmakers, such as the use of broader exception clauses or the setting of guidelines for the calculation of damages.