Negotiation Of Agreements Research Articles

Gender Mainstreaming in Kenya’s Trade Agreements: The Africa Continental Free Trade Area

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the Treaty establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement is gender mainstreamed. Specifically, the study investigates how gender related issues are represented in the Agreements establishing the AfCFTA; analyses whether the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA commits to addressing the challenges that women face in participating in employment and trade; describes the contexts in which gender issues are mentioned in the Agreement; investigates whether the Agreement perpetuates gender inequality, is accommodative of gender issues without addressing inequality, or is gender transformative.
 Methodology: The paper uses textual analysis to check whether gender related words are used in the text and in what context. The paper also checks whether there is commitment to meeting gender related commitments and uses the Fletcher (2015) gender equality continuum as a conceptual framework to classify the Agreement as exploitative, accommodative or transformative. 
 Findings: The analysis finds that although there is an attempt to use gender related words, there is lack of commitment in the Agreement to implement these commitments. The intended inclusion of the Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade in the Agreement is expected gender mainstream the Agreement.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The paper contributes to policy and practice on the negotiation and drafting of trade agreements not only by the Kenyan government but also by other African countries. That trade agreements should be negotiated and drafted with the intention of making effective implementation possible. Gender issues should not only be explicitly included in the trade agreements, but they should also be implemented and evaluated for their effectiveness.

Case C-817/19, Ligue des Droits Humains v. Council of Ministers (C.J.E.U.)

On June 21, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), sitting as a Grand Chamber, rendered its decision in the preliminary ruling procedure C-817/19, Ligue des Droits Humains v. Council of Ministers. In its ruling, the CJEU held that the surveillance regime established by the Passenger Name Record Directive 2016/681 (PNR Directive) was compatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU/EU Charter). Nevertheless, the CJEU strictly circumscribed the Directive's transposition within EU member states' domestic laws. While restricting permissible interpretations of the PNR Directive's provisions and imposing strict limitations on its scope to ensure its conformity with the EU Charter, for the first time the Court upheld an instrument of indiscriminate surveillance as compatible with EU primary law. This represents a significant development in the CJEU's case law on privacy rights, which is likely to affect the negotiation and development of future PNR agreements with third countries, as well as the development of the ePrivacy Regulation, discussions surrounding the regulation of AI, and negotiations for international instruments aiming to address serious crimes. Further, the ruling confirms the CJEU's increasing convergence with the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) case law on the matter, thus inscribing national security as a legitimate exception to the general prohibition of indiscriminate bulk data collection and retention in Europe.

Case C-817/19, Ligue des Droits Humains v. Council of Ministers (C.J.E.U.)

On June 21, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), sitting as a Grand Chamber, rendered its decision in the preliminary ruling procedure C-817/19, Ligue des Droits Humains v. Council of Ministers. In its ruling, the CJEU held that the surveillance regime established by the Passenger Name Record Directive 2016/681 (PNR Directive) was compatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU/EU Charter). Nevertheless, the CJEU strictly circumscribed the Directive's transposition within EU member states' domestic laws. While restricting permissible interpretations of the PNR Directive's provisions and imposing strict limitations on its scope to ensure its conformity with the EU Charter, for the first time the Court upheld an instrument of indiscriminate surveillance as compatible with EU primary law. This represents a significant development in the CJEU's case law on privacy rights, which is likely to affect the negotiation and development of future PNR agreements with third countries, as well as the development of the ePrivacy Regulation, discussions surrounding the regulation of AI, and negotiations for international instruments aiming to address serious crimes. Further, the ruling confirms the CJEU's increasing convergence with the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) case law on the matter, thus inscribing national security as a legitimate exception to the general prohibition of indiscriminate bulk data collection and retention in Europe.

UN BBNJ 해양유전자원 주요 법적 쟁점 연구

The 5-1 UN BBNJ Intergovernmental Conference (‘IGC’) was adjourned against international community’s huge expectation for reaching consensus on the BBNJ agreement in 2022. However, the 5-1 IGC has been considered the IGC which substantially narrowed down the divergence between Parties. Against this backdrop, there are high hopes for adopting UN BBNJ in the coming IGC 5-2 .
 However, there are still the unsolved issues which require significant amount of discussions. Out of many issues, there are two major legal issues which the IGC 5-2 should resolve in the area of Marine Genetic Resources(‘MGR’). Since the beginning of the BBNJ agreement negotiation, the legal status of MGR has divided the delegations into two groups. One is those who are proponents for common heritage of mankind. This group believes the principle of common heritage of mankind applies to MGR. The other is those who are against this. There have been no consensus at all so far. Without any creative ideas to resolve the divergence between two, there would be a very small window to see the adoption of the UN BBNJ agreement. Even if the IGC 5-2 succeeds in the legal status of MGR, we still have the digital sequence information issue. At issue is whether digital sequence information falls under the definition of MGR. Considering the same discussions in Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties(‘CBD COP’), there is very slim chance to arrive in consensus on this issue, too.
 The best scenario would be the case where all the legal issues are cleared and Parties reach consensus. However, this scenario seems very unlikely to be realized at the IGC 5-2. Considering the difficulties ahead, the IGC 5 should carefully look into the approach taken at the CBD COP 15 for successful adoption of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity. The lessons learned the IGC 5-2 should take are the effective conference management and targeted consensus strategy. The CBD COP 15 managed conference effectively by forming Plenary-Working Group-Contact Group-Friends of the Chair structures. With this structure, the CBD COP could filer out the agenda and focus its time and resources on hard issues. In addition, the CBD COP15 draw consensus only where it is likely to reach. This targeted approach produced the result that the CBD COP 15 left many issues unsolved till the COP 16. However, the CBD COP 15 achieved what the CBD COP 15 had to on time.
 Applying the lessons learned at CBD COP 15, the IGC 5-2 should enhance the small group which was introduce for the first time at the IGC 5-1 for consensus between Parties who have opposing views on one issue. There has been not enough time for narrowing divergent views between Parties during the whole IGCs. What the IGC 5-2 might try next is to explicitly agree not to agree. By creating provisions which state Parties do not agree in the issues such as the legal status of MGR and the digital sequence information, Parties could clean the brackets and produce a clean text. When debates seem endless, we should move toward a new direction instead of circling around.

Mitigating conflict with collaboration: Reaching negotiated agreement amidst belief divergence in environmental governance

AbstractHigh levels of conflict among coalitions in a policy process are often attributed to belief divergence and may lead to policy gridlock. Thus, reducing belief divergence may facilitate negotiation and open the door for policy change. Beliefs are notoriously difficult to change, however, especially in high‐conflict settings. Collaborative governance has been touted as one method for mitigating conflict to a level where negotiation is possible by means including but not limited to belief change. This study investigates the relationship between belief divergence as a driver of policy conflict and collaborative governance as a conflict mitigation tool by analyzing the beliefs of two opposing coalitions as they participate in a decade‐long collaborative environmental governance process that ended in negotiated agreement. Using longitudinal survey and interview data, we find that coalitions' beliefs diverge more at a later point in the process, due primarily to the reinforcement and strengthening of one coalition's beliefs; however, we also identify aspects of the collaborative process that helped foster negotiated agreement amidst this growing belief divergence. These findings can inform scholarship on conflict mitigation in environmental governance as well as the design of more effective collaborative processes in high‐conflict settings.

An Analysis of India's Revealed Comparative Advantage in Merchandise Trade with Australia

India's export sector has considerably improved since 1991 economic and trade reforms. It has gained momentum after the signing of various trade agreements with several countries. India and Australia started free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations over a decade ago in 2011 and finally concluded a landmark Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on 2nd April 2022. This study examines India's trade relations with Australia using the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index and trade intensity index (TII) for exports and imports, to determine the patterns of exports and areas of specialisation of the two countries. The findings suggest that the bilateral trade between India and Australia has not strengthened. However, India enjoys a comparative advantage in several product groups, which fall into the category of primary goods, low-technology manufacturers, and manufactured goods as well. Overall, the RCA is much higher for India's exports than that for Australia's exports to India. The study finds that India has trade potential in several product groups with Australia and efforts should be made to bring greater benefits from the trade agreement for both countries in the years to come.

Disrupting the knowledge and power imbalance in Community Benefits Agreement negotiations: Lessons from the Aggie Square development in Sacramento, California

ABSTRACT Community empowerment movements challenge local government administrators and planners to emphasize people instead of development profits in the planning process. Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are popular tools to advance this objective. Executed by and between local governments, communities, and project developers, CBAs detail how economic benefits from new development are shared with residents. One question understudied in the literature is how does a community know if it received an equitable distribution in a CBA? In this case study of a new $1.6 billion satellite campus for the University of California, documents in and out of the public domain are analyzed to determine what economic benefits could be shared with the community, what portion was disclosed to the community, and what portion of the benefits were included in the CBA. A key recommendation from the findings is to build a CBA metric that local governments and communities can use to establish an early target value for benefits before negotiations with project proponents.

Dynamics in International Contract Business Negotiations: A Comparison of Brazil, Russia, Indian and China (BRIC)

Globalization has increased countries interaction and trade exchange. Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) became more important economies at the global level during the 21st century. As the success of international negotiations depends on reaching satisfactory agreements for all parts involved, many people have found difficulties in conducting international negotiations involving BRIC negotiators. Several factors may impact the result of the negotiation process. Understanding how these relevant factors may impact on the outcomes of international negotiations among BRIC countries may help to mitigate the adverse effect of different perspectives in an international agreement and allow companies to become more competitive globally. Based on theories of negotiation, this study focuses on the dimensions of negotiating outcomes and process as perceived by BRIC negotiators in international business transactions. As misunderstandings occur during a domestic agreement negotiation within the same culture, one can affirm that the same happens when BRIC negotiators are negotiating an international business agreement. What kind of misunderstandings can prevent successful cross-cultural negotiations among BRIC negotiators? How are BRIC negotiators able to overcome the challenges of the international environment while negotiating an international agreement? Is it possible to settle a common path among BRIC negotiators based on an international business agreement negotiation? The purpose of this research is to answer to these and other questions. From a review of international negotiation practices, a questionnaire focusing on retrospective international contracts negotiation experiences was developed and sent to negotiators from BRIC countries. The results indicate some important outcomes that may be taken into consideration for a successful international negotiation involving negotiators from BRIC countries.

The ideological capture of WHO’s social participation mechanisms in the negotiation of the international pandemic agreement

Resumo Este artigo aborda a participação social nas negociações do acordo internacional sobre pandemias, conduzidas no âmbito da Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) por um Órgão Intergovernamental de Negociação (OIN). Apresenta resultados de pesquisa realizada por meio de revisão de literatura, pesquisa documental que abarcou mais de cem documentos do OIN, e pesquisa empírica que realizou a análise qualitativa dos conteúdos de 383 vídeos enviados pelo público durante a segunda fase de audiências públicas do OIN. A pesquisa confirma a hipótese de que houve captura ideológica das audiências públicas, entendida como a atuação concertada de indivíduos e organizações que, aproveitando-se de modalidades de participação abertas ao público, por meio de uma atuação massiva em prol de argumentos sem base científica ou inverificáveis, busca distorcer a finalidade das audiências públicas, transformando a consulta sobre o que deveria estar contido no acordo sobre pandemias em um espaço de difusão de sua agenda política. Apresenta, ainda, indícios de atuação concertada da extrema-direita contra o acordo. As conclusões defendem a necessidade de mudanças nesse mecanismo de participação, em prol de uma regulação da saúde global que leve em conta a opinião e os interesses dos seus principais destinatários.

A Study on the Historical Development of Hydro Diplomacy in South Asia

The South Asian region comprising countries namely India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Maldives, holds a significant geo-political and economic position. These countries share a complex history of colonialism which led to a political demarcation of boundaries resulting in various problems in sharing common sources/water bodies in the region. This paper focuses on the historical development of hydro diplomacy in South Asia, with an emphasis on the Indus River Basin, Kabul River Basin & GangaBrahmaputra-Meghna River Basin in an attempt to scrutinize water politics in South Asia. A substantial number of bilateral agreements and treaties have been signed amid different countries of the region to ensure the maximum utilization of its vast river systems. However, challenges remain in managing water resources at a regional level effectively and addressing the needs of all stakeholders. Understanding the historical development of hydro diplomacy provides insights into the complexities faced in managing transboundary water resources in South Asia. This paper highlights the importance of cooperation, negotiation, and updated agreements to ensure sustainable and equitable use of water in the region in the backdrop of legal and customary International law on transboundary river water sharing.

Rigged Elections: The Failure of Mexico’s New Labor Model to Protect Farmworker Rights

Due to recent labor reforms and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiation, Mexico ratified freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. This new labor model promises the end of employer protection unions that thwart labor organizing and drive down wages. Through an ethnographic case study of farm labor organizing in the agro-export industry in San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico, this article argues that recent labor reforms are not sufficient to democratize labor relations in rural industries as they fail to overcome regional and transnational power structures. Although limited to one case, this article fills a gap in the literature on the impact of recent labor reforms on farmworkers. Mexico’s salaried agricultural workers offer critical insights into the promises and failures of current efforts to reform labor laws and remediate the adverse effects of economic integration.

Public Support: A Missing Variable in the Trade Policy Equation

As Canada considers launching free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with Ecuador, the government wants to know what Canadians think. Ottawa makes it easy for citizens to weigh in, inviting Canadians to “join the discussion” and submit their “views, reflections and priorities” on the potential FTA through a Global Affairs Canada web page that is clear, inviting, and user-friendly. Under a section titled, “Who should participate?” the first answer given is “individuals.” Although the Biden administration has been clear that it will not seek new FTA negotiations, taking a page from Canada’s public consultation playbook may be instructive, at least when it comes to understanding what Americans really think about trade and trade agreements. The conventional wisdom emanating from Washington is that new trade agreements are political nonstarters. Even trade policy observers who believe that the American public should support trade and trade agreements often claim that “the politics are too difficult.” But whose politics are they talking about?

Low Power, First Offers, and Reservation Prices: Weak Negotiators are Self‐anchored by Their Own Alternatives

Although most scholars recommend making the first offer in negotiations, recent research and practitioners' experience have uncovered a second‐mover advantage in certain situations. In the current article, we explore this first‐ versus second‐mover dynamic by investigating the circumstances under which negotiators would make less favorable first offers than they would receive were they to move second, focusing on the effects of negotiation power in the form of alternatives. Additionally, we examine the effects of low power on reservation prices and whether these effects could be mitigated using an anchor‐debiasing technique. In Study 1, we manipulated negotiators' power in the form of the best alternative to the negotiated agreement and examined its effect on first offers and reservation prices. Our results showed that low‐power negotiators would receive more favorable first offers than they would have made themselves when facing either low‐ or medium‐power counterparts. Also, our results suggest that low‐power negotiators had less favorable reservation prices than their medium‐ and high‐ power counterparts. In Study 2, we investigated whether this effect would persist in the face of anchor‐debiasing techniques. Our results showed that while anchor‐debiasing techniques did improve their first offers, low‐power negotiators would still benefit from making the counteroffer rather than moving first. Our findings uncover the disadvantageous effects of low power on first‐offer magnitude while offering practical advice to negotiators.

Limited Partnerships Agreement Negotiations: A Role Play

Limited Partnerships Agreement Negotiations: A Role Play

Ways to Develop Financial Resources in the Innovative Development of the Economy

This article examines strategies for amassing financial resources to spur innovative economic development, a pressing global issue, particularly in light of the recent pandemic. Emphasis is placed on maintaining operational continuity in production and services by funnelling funds from national and international capital markets into the corporate sphere, preserving the financial stability of joint-stock companies, ensuring employment, and introducing novel financing mechanisms. The paper also provides a detailed analysis of economic studies on the structure and characteristics of capital markets. The process of garnering financial resources from capital markets, guided by cash flow direction and the deployment of hybrid financial instruments during finance agreement negotiations, is also discussed. Overall, the article seeks to elucidate and address the challenges of driving innovation in economic growth through effective financial resource management.

Early modern parliamentary studies: Overview and new perspectives

AbstractIn this essay, we call for a new approach to representative assemblies of early modern Europe and beyond. While there are vast national historiographies on their legal constitutional structure, little effort has been made to reconstruct the cultural and transnational dimension of such bodies, a phenomenon we describe as ‘parliamentary culture’. We argue that there is much to be gained from an investigation of the culture surrounding these bodies‐ how they influenced and shaped political behaviour and were shaped by it, and how they were embedded into the thought of their time and period‐ and from seeing them as part of a set of common European traditions of political negotiation and consent. We suggest an interdisciplinary and collaborative agenda for that investigation that might lead beyond Europe too, into some of its colonies, where Europeans also encountered other traditions of negotiated discussion and agreement.

Capacity, voice and opportunity: advancing municipal engagement in Canadian federal relations

In Canada, municipalities are involved in an increasing number of policy areas, but they remain largely absent from the nation’s system of intergovernmental relations. Municipal representatives do not attend First Ministers’ meetings that gather the Prime Minister and heads of each province and territory. They are also largely excluded from intergovernmental councils or committees focused on specific policy areas. Nor do they participate in the negotiation of most intergovernmental agreements.
 This paper explores how Canada’s intergovernmental infrastructure could be reformed to include municipalities. It does so through an analysis of how other countries have made space for municipalities in their intergovernmental processes. After drawing five lessons from international experience, the paper concludes with four approaches to reforming intergovernmental relations in Canada: (1) ensure municipalities have the capacity, voice and structures to participate effectively in intergovernmental relations; (2) increase municipal involvement in provincial policy-making, including potentially through co-governed intergovernmental councils; (3) as far as possible, eliminate unfunded mandates(ie responsibilities devolved without adequate funding to discharge them) through, for example, provincial legislation or provincial–municipal intergovernmental agreements that require consultation on the fiscal impacts of draft legislation or regulation on municipalities; (4) strengthen trilateral (national/provincial/municipal) relations, including through location-specific or policy-specific agreements, and trilateral intergovernmental councils.

Negotiation for human beings: what, why, and how?

The golden words of Kabir Das , “Kya leke aaya jagat mein, kya leke jaega, do din ki zindagi hai, do din ka mela” indubitably manifests that the life is too short to indulge in conflicts. However, conflicts do happen. No human being has control over it. A new way forward is to resolve the dispute with the help of negotiation, which is the most common and informal form of dispute resolution. Compared to processes using neutral “third parties”, negotiation has the advantage of allowing the parties themselves to control the process as well as the outcome. The negotiation between Nelson Mandela and the South African Government illustrates the success of world’s best peaceful diplomatic negotiation in putting an end to racial discrimination, where violence seemed inevitable. However, the whole process involved around 60 meetings over a span of 10 years, which reflects the fact that the art of negotiation demands considerable preparation and lots of patience. Taking into consideration the huge variation in negotiation dynamics across contexts, suggesting a single script to the negotiators on how to go about the process cannot be contemplated. However, this article attempts to elaborate the various stages of negotiation in the order in which they are most commonly used. In this article, the author catalogues several approaches, strategies, styles and techniques to have a successful negotiation, and their usage which primarily varies from one case to another, and especially upon the parties’ perceived relative strengths during the bargaining process. Further, the author endeavours to deduce ways to determine the alternatives and achieve the best optimum solution by identifying the best alternative to the negotiated agreement (BATNA).

Contract Law in Commerce: A Manager's Guide to Drafting and Negotiating Agreements

In the dynamic landscape of commerce, contract law stands as a pivotal element governing business transactions and relationships. This article serves as a comprehensive guide for managers, elucidating the intricacies of contract law and providing essential insights into the drafting and negotiation of agreements. Contracts, being the backbone of commercial interactions, demand a nuanced understanding of legal principles to ensure clarity, mitigate risks, and safeguard the interests of parties involved.

The Present Situation and Trend of Negotiations on the Iranian Nuclear Issue

After Iran and the United States and Europe disagreed on the “final text” put forward by the European Union in early August, the Iranian nuclear talks once again reached an impasse and have continued to this day. The main contentious points that deadlocked the negotiations are: “guarantee problem” “problem of lifting of sanctions” “safeguard problem” and so on. At present, the Iranian nuclear issue is in a state where there are no formal negotiations but secret indirect communication, although there is a lot of progress, there are still major obstacles and although no agreement has been reached, there is no crisis. As far as the trend of Iranian nuclear negotiations is concerned, it is an inevitable trend to restart negotiations, and when to restart negotiations is affected by accidental factors. The form of resumption of negotiations is more likely to be the form of indirect talks between the United States and Iran mediated by the European Union. In fact, the goal of the negotiations will no longer be to return to the 2015 agreement but to reach a new one. Even if the talks are resumed, it will still be difficult to reach an agreement. The long-term failure to reach an agreement in the Iranian nuclear negotiations will increase the risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, affect peace and stability in the region, and at the same time promote the formation of international opposing camps, which is not conducive to international peace.