Private Parties and WTO Dispute Settlement System

alberto alemanno, European Court of Justice

Abstract

This chapter examines the (non) role that private business operators play in the implementation of WTO Dispute Settlement Reports. More precisely, by analysing the legal status of these decisions in national and regional law, it looks at what individuals are entitled to obtain when a WTO Member ignores the results of a Dispute Settlement Body’s ruling. As private business operators bear most of the economic costs of non-compliance, there is an increasing pressure for a more direct involvement of these parties in the Dispute Settlement System mechanisms. The challenge is therefore to find a way to accommodate their interests within the current settlement system, without reducing the discretion WTO Members enjoy in the implementation of the reports. By building upon the EC case law, it is argued that allowing individuals to seek compensation of damages deriving from non-compliance by the losing Member might be a valuable solution to strike a more fair balance between the interests of the WTO actors: its Members and their private business operators.