The potential of transnational regulations: The interactions between traditional and non-traditional sources of international economic law

Abstract

This chapter discusses the challenges and potentialities lying in the interactions between traditional and non-traditional sources of International Economic Law (IEL). To better present such dynamics, a focus lies on the normative dialogues between investment treaties and transnational regulations addressing economically-material topics, in particular human rights and environmental issues. Based on this, five interactions between transnational regulations and IEL treaties are identified, namely coordination and complementarity, normative conflict and concurrence, contribution to the progressive development of law, translation, and the recognition of social demands. These interactions reveal the potentialities emerging from the joint use of transnational regulations and traditional sources of IEL, contributing to bridging the gaps between issues traditionally addressed by IEL and social aspirations. Yet, in order to fulfil this potential, the active participation of several stakeholders in different processes surrounding transnational regulations has to be taken seriously. This chapter argues that in this way, transnational regulations can be seen as a facilitator of empowerment of socially vulnerable actors, fostering the embracement of their perspectives by transnational regulations, and thus also triggering normative interactions between transnational regulations and IEL.