3. SEQUENCING: Consultation must come prior to enactment of the plan to uphold credibility.
Patrick Low 22, Senior Fellow at the Asia Global Institute of the University of Hong Kong, former Chief Economist for the World Trade Organization, Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Sussex, “The WTO in Crisis: Closing the Gap between Conversation and Action or Shutting Down the Conversation?”, World Trade Review, Vol. 21, No. 3, July 2022, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474745622000064
A part of the discussion needs to be about better aligning the desirable with the attainable. In order to achieve the requisite degree of cooperation on arrangements that yield mutual benefits, it may be necessary to better understand limits to the surrender of sovereignty in a multi-polar world of varied interests and priorities. The reach of rules and commitments needs to be consistent with the possible. Flurries of enthusiasm unsustained by consistency of purpose and commitment only encourage over-reach, and weaken the institution when members cannot live up to their promises.
This is not an argument for being minimalistic and frugal with ambition. It is simply that securing mutually beneficial outcomes is preferable to talking about them while harbouring unspoken doubts about the feasibility of what is on the table. Understanding the limits of highest common denominator policy convergence, or in some cases any convergence at all, is key to stability and a sustained contribution to governance. If convergence is impossible, divergence must be managed. To call trading arrangements a ‘system’, there must be pre-commitment, predictability, and respect for process. To slip into trying to manage without a system would be an historic error of major proportions.