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Worldwide, democracy is under pressure. The slow but steady erosion of democracy in many places in the last decade seems to accelerate since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. The Asia-Pacific region is not immune against the impositions of authoritarian populism and other...

In most of the 137 developing and transformation countries examined by the BTI 2020, COVID-19 will exacerbate the very weaknesses that have marked the negative balance of the last decade: a lack of rule of law, limited political rights, fiscal instability and rising social...

One of the key issues in WTO reform is to enhance the efficiency and flexibility of the institution. As it is often hard to reach consensus among 164 member states, one way forward could be that a subset of members deepens cooperation in a specific area. This could take...

One of the key issues in WTO reform is to enhance the efficiency and flexibility of the institution. As it is often hard to reach consensus among 164 member states, one way forward could be that a subset of members deepens cooperation in a specific area. This could take...

On 4 February 2020, the Bertelsmann Stiftung, together with the King Baudouin Foundation and the Open Society Foundations, organised a DINNER DIALOGUE in Brussels. The topic that evening was the Conference on the Future of Europe and how to meaningfully involve citizens.

Global economic trends over the last decades have steadily increased the links between Asia and Europe. For both regions, a growing economic interdependency represents an opportunity to build strong, fair and sustainable relations. Nonetheless, constant global economic...

WTO committees hold so-called „thematic sessions“. These informal meetings help to adopt a more forward looking agenda than the usual committee routine does. They also provide an opportunity to bring in outside stakeholders and experts on specific topics of interest to the...

The incapacitation of the Appellate Body in December 2019 was a huge blow to the judicial arm of the WTO. When improving and reforming rule enforcement at the WTO, it is however vital not only to look at the top if the dispute resolution pyramid but equally at the bottom. In...

Negative international spillovers created by nontariff policies are a rising source of trade tensions and conflicts. The WTO does not include rules for subsidies for services industries, state-owned enterprises or investment incentives. Existing disciplines on industrial...

Geo-economic tensions and global collective action problems call for international cooperation to revise and develop rules to guide both the use of domestic subsidies and responses by governments to cross-border competition spillover effects. Current WTO rules that divide...