Hedwig Kavasch, Unterschiedliche Zollpräferenzen für unterschiedliche Entwicklungsländer

Abstract

The legal interdependence between economic development policy, WTO law and the General System of Preferences (GSP) is the topic of the book of Hedwig Kavasch, Unterschiedliche Zollpräferenzen für unterschiedliche Entwicklungsländer. Kavasch focuses on the relatively recent GSP Plus preferences schemes developed and applied by the European Union (EU). The EU uses the GSP as a tool to encourage compliance with obligations in international law in the fields of human and labour rights, environment and good governance. Countries complying with this particular set of policy objectives will be granted more preferential market access to the EU than developing and least-developed countries disregarding said policy objectives. Besides the insights on the GSP Plus scheme of the EU and the legal challenges coming along with economic development policies and “aid for trade”, this book provides a powerful example for the crucial role of the WTO system in shaping the economic prospects of developing and least-developed countries in the global market.