The EU’s free trade agreement with New Zealand fails to establish a critical concept of sustainability On July 9, 2023, the European Union and Aotearoa New Zealand concluded a comprehensive free trade agreement, which the European Commission describes as the most ambitious agreement ever with regard to sustainability issues. A closer look reveals that the scope of regulation is more comprehensive and progressive in many respects than in other agreements. Nevertheless, deficits can be identified in the design of the dispute settlement procedure, which are also due to the fact that the sustainability chapter is unable to establish a critical concept of sustainability that is sensitive to its contradictions. Findings from Contradiction Studies can help to fill this gap. Contradictions are associated with the concept of sustainability as it is used in the agreement. Only its recognition makes it possible to negotiate these contradictions at a legal level. To this end, the dispute settlement procedure must be made more effective with the involvement of civil society actors.

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Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional. Fachinformationsdienst für internationale und interdisziplinäre Rechtsforschung.

DOI: 10.17176/20230810-224225-0

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“Creating decentralizing and decolonizing scholarship on contradiction, contradictory phenomena, and contradicting processes is a challenging task.”

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space

“According to Niklas Luhmann, space is a ‘special facility to negate contradictions’”.

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coherence in thought

“The imperative of non-contradiction generally produces a coherence in thought that is often at odds with social complexities.”

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paradox

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city

“The city is a laboratory not only of modernity, but also of contradiction.”

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