ABSTRACT

The conflictive nature of the negotiations and the length of time involved to come to multilateral trade agreements reflect as much the inherent complexities of the issues involved as the significant interests that are at stake for all countries involved in the process. At the same time, the way negotiations are organized and decisions are made contributes to the complexity. The requirement of transparency, which is essential for a democratic validation, does not fit naturally with strategic operations in negotiations, and full participation of an increasing membership concerning an expanding agenda does not facilitate rapid decision making either, particularly not in the context of a single undertaking, implying that nothing is decided until everything is decided. All this indicates that there are good reasons indeed to assess critically the way the WTO has been operating since 1995, and to improve the organization’s capability to deal with its formidable task in the years to come.