Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in Regional and Multilateral Fora

The paper " Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in Regional and Multilateral Fora: A Discussion in the Light of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism of the EU - Egypt Association Agreement" was presented by Mr. Jan Bohanes, Associate at the Geneva office of Sidley Austin LLP, at the conference on " Dialogue on WTO Dispute Settlement" organized by TRAC with the support of ICTSD/Geneva on the 15-16th of April, 2007.

Pursuant to the Action Plan between Egypt and the EU adopted in March 2007, the Dispute Settlement Mechanism is to be negotiated on the basis of the WTO DSU. This suggests a real shift from the hitherto applied diplomatic dispute settlement to a more judicialized approach with the EU. Where rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement and the preferential trade agreement with the EU are similar or equivalent in substance, the complainant can maximize its chances of success by bringing the dispute in either of the fora, EU DSM or WTO DSU, the more advantageous for him.