Bilaterism versus multilateralism in international economic law: applying the principle of subsidiarity

Unlike the Vinerian perspective [named after Jacob Viner], which is generally critical of bilateral trade agreements and provides only a limited justification for them, the Subsidiarity perspective sees them in a more positive light, providing several explanations and justifications for their existence and thus somewhat closing the gap between the reality of booming bilateralism and the rejective scholarship. The Subsidiarity perspective incorporates both ethical and political considerations, in addition to the economic ones, and can be applied to more than just trade agreements. In the text above, we have applied it to numerous fields of international economic regulation, such as tariffs, subsidies, government procurement, foreign investment, money laundering, corrupt practices, labour and environmental standards, and intellectual property.