Publication

This paper examines the relationship between trade liberalization and human rights. The ‘human rights approach’, proposed by the UN, has identified a number of possibilities to incorporate human rights considerations into the work of the WTO. However, it argues that the WTO possibilities have their limits, which can only be overcome through cooperation of other relevant international organizations, and the main responsibility for action lies with the Member States of the WTO. As a satisfactory human rights situation also improves the economic development and attractiveness of a state, human rights and economic development are not contradictory but mutually support each other.