INTERNATIONAL-TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT - PROTECTION OF TRADE OR LIBERALIZED ENVIRONMENTAL-PROTECTION

The trade and environment debate is complex, and little consensus has been reached on the relationship between trade liberalisation and envi ronmental protection. This became visible in the OECD process on the t rade-environment nexus and the same debate within the WTO. The objecti ve of this article is to explain why it is so difficult to reach agree ments within this issue area. We focus on two factors: (1) It is diffi cult for countries to define their national interests with respect to the trade-environment nexus. Our point of departure is the OECD proces s in which traditional nation-state representation was challenged by s ectoral-functional identity. (2) In the WTO there exists a clear North -South cleavage, and this cleavage is tuned to the various member coun tries' choice of approach to the trade-environment nexus. Therefore ex periences gained in the OECD process are not necessarily transferred t o the WTO. Thus, we argue that one cannot understand the problem of es tablishing international consensus within the trade-environment nexus as long sis analyses of national political processes are not combined with an understanding of the international constraints to autonomous s tate action.