TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT – OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS

Trade and environment are of crucial importance for human welfare. On the other hand, policies regarding both areas were formulated in isolation from each other. The bi-univocal relation between trade and environment was analyzed in numerous studies requested by governmental bodies and international organizations, and also in milestone scientific works. Our paper aims to present the reasons on which there were built the main hypotheses regarding the trade effects of environmental regulations and the ecological effects of measures pursuing trade liberalization and of discussions on the compatibility among trade policies and environmental policies, departing from the theories and empirical evidences from different papers in order to propose working hypotheses.