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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | International perspectives on the African Economic Community: trade, environment and fundamental rights |
| Author: | Cheyne, Ilona |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Periodical: | Annual conference - African Society of International and Comparative Law |
| Volume: | 6 |
| Pages: | 135-144 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | economic integration human rights environment |
| Abstract: | The African Economic Community (AEC) is to be a customs union operating on the principle of free trade within its internal market. Yet there are good reasons for government intervention. This is particularly true for noneconomic measures, such as the protection of the environment or human rights. What kind of intervention should be permitted, and how can it be controlled and balanced with the imperatives of the free trade regime? There are two mechanisms by which this may be achieved, the legislative/negotiated mechanism and the judicial/dispute settlement mechanism. The present article first examines how these have worked in the three main free trade groupings in the world at present: GATT, NAFTA and the European Community, concentrating primarily on environmental issues. Then it discusses the AEC treaty and finds significant differences between it and, notably, the EC treaty, differences which have important implications for dealing with the kind of conflicts between free trade and other policies experienced in the EC and anticipated by NAFTA. The AEC is relatively vague when it comes to establishing protection of the environment or human rights and there is little by way of legally enforceable provisions. So the fortunes of the AEC and the balancing of economic and noneconomic policies will remain very much in the hands of the politicians and the realm of negotiated compromise. Notes, ref. |