UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

EU and WTO Regulatory Approaches to Renewable Energy Subsidies: Negative and Positive Integration

Marin Duran, G; Espa, I; (2019) EU and WTO Regulatory Approaches to Renewable Energy Subsidies: Negative and Positive Integration. Positive Integration - EU and WTO Approaches Towards the "Trade and" Debate pp. 61-86. 10.1007/978-3-030-25662-3_4. Green open access

[thumbnail of Marin Duran_EU and WTO Regulatory Approaches to Renewable Energy Subsidies_AAM.pdf]
Preview
Text
Marin Duran_EU and WTO Regulatory Approaches to Renewable Energy Subsidies_AAM.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (812kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper compares how the EU and the WTO have grappled with balancing the negative (trade-distortive) and positive (climate change-mitigation) effects of renewable energy (RE) subsidies. It first shows that, although both subsidy control regimes share some basic tenets of negative integration (i.e. prohibiting trade-distortive RE subsidies), EU State aid law is comparatively more constraining on governments’ space to support green energy in both substantive and procedural/institutional terms. It then argues that the more negative integration is strictly framed and implemented, the greater the need for positive integration (i.e., sheltering trade-distortive but climate-friendly RE subsidies under certain conditions). This, in turn, goes a long way in explaining why the EU’s regulatory model is also distinct for having progressively established a set of common rules on permissible “good” RE subsidies. With this in mind, the paper assesses the extent to which the absence of a comparable positive integration dimension in the WTO legal framework exposes RE subsidies to the risk of WTO-illegality. It finally argues that while comparing the two regimes may be useful from a theoretical standpoint, a transposition of the EU’s positive integration approach to the WTO is not desirable for a variety of legal, political and institutional reasons.

Type: Article
Title: EU and WTO Regulatory Approaches to Renewable Energy Subsidies: Negative and Positive Integration
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-25662-3_4
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25662-3_4
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Renewable energy subsidies, Climate change mitigation, WTO subsidy rules, EU State aid law
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Laws
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10078472
Downloads since deposit
244Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item