European Union and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: promoting a global climate agenda: El Acuerdo de Libre Comercio entre la Unión Europea y Nueva Zelanda: promoviendo una agenda climática global

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras

doi:10.12795/i54.04

Authors

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras Universidad de Deusto (Facultad de Derecho) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-2925

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12795/i54.04

Keywords:

Trade and Sustainable Development chapter, enforcement mechanism, European Union-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, climate commitments, general dispute settlement regime, sanctions.

Abstract

All recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) concluded by the European Union (EU) include chapters on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) containing mutual commitments on labour and environmental issues. The environmental provisions refer explicitly to the multilateral agreements that each Party commits to implementing, such as the Paris Agreement on climate change. However, the lack of an effective enforcement mechanism in the event of non-compliance with the TSD provisions has undermined the credibility of sustainability commitments. The EU FTA with New Zealand marks a turning point in this trend, introducing a new model of enforcement system. In regard to climate commitments, in particular, the agreement includes ambitious goals which, along with the new enforcement approach, could be extended to future EU FTAs, making a significant contribution to combating global climate change.

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Author Biography

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras, Universidad de Deusto (Facultad de Derecho)

Beatriz Pérez de las Heras is Professor of European Union Law and Jean Monnet Chair on European Integration at the University of Deusto (UD). PhD in Law (UD), she accomplished post-graduate studies at the Centre Européen Universitaire de Nancy, where she obtained the DESS and DEA en Droit Communautaire. She was Director of the European Studies Institute at UD from 1996 to 2009, and Vice-Dean for Research and International Relations at Deusto School of Law from 2013 to 2015. Her publications include the following: “La participación ciudadana en el futuro de Europa: instrumentos y oportunidades para promover un espacio público europeo”, Araucaria. Revista Iberoamericana de Filosofía, Política, Humanidades y Relaciones Internacionales, 45 (2020); “Climate security in the European Union’s foreign policy: addressing the responsibility to prepare for conflict prevention”, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 28 (3) (2020); “Los derechos digitales en la Unión Europea: del liberalismo económico a la protección jurídica”, Revista General de Derecho Europeo, 57 (2022).

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European Union and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement: promoting a global climate agenda

El Acuerdo de Libre Comercio entre la Unión Europea y Nueva Zelanda: promoviendo una agenda climática global

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Beatriz Pérez de las Heras, Universidad de Deusto (Facultad de Derecho)

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