World trade has vigorously expanded since WWII, and it is also true that international trade has never been so free as nowadays. However, the twenty-year history of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has not been a success story at all. Since 1995, no major trade agreement has been achieved. The Doha Round, launched in late 2001, was officially suspended in 2006, and since then it has not been concluded – not even formally. Therefore, it is not surprising that so-called mega-regional free trade negotiations (that is, negotiations between large regions) have been launched in the very early 2010s, aiming to solve problems that were unsolvable under the auspices of the WTO. Taking into account the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP, already signed, but not yet entered into force), as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which are under negotiation, the question remains: what kind of role will be left for the WTO (except for dispute settlement)? Is there any future for global (multilateral) trade negotiations?*
Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) code: F00, F13
