CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN CASE OF 1949 IN THE GATT: LUCK IN MISFORTUNE? 7. Conclusion This article argued that the Czechoslovakian case of 1949 in the GATT inserted the element of disorder in world trade system by not being fruitful in terms of interpreting the security exception of the GATT (Article XXI). This was possible due to the GATT institutional structure, its dispute settlement and political climate at the time. As time went on, this element of chaos remained dormant during the GATT and WTO eras right until 2017 when it was revived by Russia. Now it must be dealt with under different WTO institutional structure, dispute settlement and the new political arrangements, combined with other problems facing the WTO. The need to address a new concept of sovereignty seems to be the problem pertinent to the interpretation of the national security. While there are various solutions for problems of the WTO, the cooperation and leadership among the WTO Members are fundamental features of those solutions. Moreover, there is a need for responses to those opposing a free trade inside the states. There are already some signs of domestic responses in the US challenging the President’s authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The hope is that an element of entropy, inserted by the Czechoslovakian case in 1949 and revived in 2017 will encourage the Member States of the WTO to solve other broader problems as well.While one could claim that the Czechoslovakian case of 1949 was a misfortune for Czechoslovakia and future interpretation of the security exception in the GATT and WTO. There is a hope, though, that this misfortune might be transformed into luck, if the interpretation of the security exception in 2018 could encourage the WTO Member States to deal with other problems of the WTO as well. The only obstacle is that the luck is dependent on the leadership and willingness of cooperation among the WTO Member States.

WEILER, J.H.H. ‘Black Lies, White Lies and Some Uncomfortable Truths in and of the International Trading System’ ( EJIL Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law , 25 July 2018) .

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