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Improving WTO-civil society relations

Civic groups have undertaken a myriad of initiatives to reinforce, reshape or replace existing rules of world trade. Better links between the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and civil society have indeed achieved greater transparency and democracy. But as globalisation intensifies, how can relations between civil society and the WTO be strengthened and formalised?

Research published by the University of Warwick suggests that careful and systematic initiatives from both sides are now necessary to avoid undermining policy and undercutting democracy. With the advent of globalisation, substantial governance has extended beyond the state and spread throughout local, regional and international institutions. The WTO regulates all aspects of global trade with some relative autonomy from and a certain degree of power over the governments that support it.

A wide range of civil society organisations have sought to establish direct relations with the WTO, some taking a critical but reformist stance, others seeking to reduce its powers or even abolish it. A consensus has now emerged that mature WTO-civil society relations can offer substantial benefits through increased information flows, facilitation of debates, education, and by giving legitimacy to regimes and greater democracy generally. How should WTO-civil society relations be conducted and to what ends? The study identifies key weaknesses in the current quality of links, including:

The WTO has not taken its contacts with civil society much beyond public relations exercises.
Exchanges have not been democratically representative and have tended to reinforce structural inequalities in world politics.
Civic groups have sometimes failed to carefully formulate and research their inputs to the WTO.
The WTO has not given careful consideration to the potential repercussions of its contacts with civil society within national and local politics in member countries.
The WTO has tended to skew its contacts with CSOs who conform with the institution, neglecting its reformist and radical critics, thus obtaining an artificially optimistic assessment of the popularity and viability of its policies.

These shortcomings have, however, stemmed from a host of resource limitations and deeper structural constraints rather than individual or organisational attitudes. To take the relations between the WTO and civil society forward, practical steps could include:

all parties clarifying and specifying their objectives, particularly the WTO which needs to formulate more explicit policy aims with regard to civil society
further steps to formally institutionalise relations between civil society and the WTO, such as devising mechanisms for permanent accreditation, observer status in relevant panels and committees, and establishing a regular cycle of consultations
both WTO and CSOs improving relevant staff capacities and appointing trained liaison officials
all parties improving the coordination of their exchange activities, for example, the WTO could subscribe to the existing UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service and civic groups could share more information and tasks and coordinate activities
both civic organisers and WTO officials could consciously foster attitude changes to promote constructive dialogue, include marginalised groups, increase awareness of their democratic accountability and cultivate greater mutual recognition, respect and reciprocity.

Source(s):
‘The WTO and Civil Society’ by Jan Aart Scholte with Robert O’ Brien and Marc Williams, CSGR Working Paper #14/98, Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation, University of Warwick (1998), also published in the Journal of World Trade, Volume 33/1, October 1999

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (Escor)

id21 Research Highlight: 31 May 2001

Further Information:
Jan Aart Scholte
Department of Politics and International Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
UK

Tel: +44 (0)24 7657 2939
Fax: +44 (0)24 7652 4221
Contact the contributor: scholte@warwick.ac.uk

Department of Politics and International Studies, Warwick, UK

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