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Energy Labels: Nudging Policy to Avoid Trade Implications?

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Energy Law and Economics

Part of the book series: Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship ((EALELS,volume 5))

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Abstract

Labelling schemes have increasingly emerged as a valuable tool for improving environmental sustainability. Energy labels attempt at steering consumers’ behaviour and producers’ manufacturing patterns; this kind of steering can be induced by a corresponding nudging policy. Labels have the advantage of being the least trade restrictive measure although conflicts with WTO law are not excluded. Therefore, this contribution sheds light on the use of energy labels in the context of WTO law with a particular focus on public procurement procedures, since energy labels have become an important element therein (“green procurement ”).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Weber (2017), pp. 355–365.

  2. 2.

    For a comprehensive overview of the different regulatory tools for climate change mitigation see Weber (2017), pp. 365 et seq.

  3. 3.

    See also Joshi (2004), pp. 70 et seqq.

  4. 4.

    In everyday language, the word label is used to cover a broad spectrum of tags, containing information like brand names, origins of products or their size; to be more distinctive, legal scholars often refer to the term labelling schemes.

  5. 5.

    Banerjeea and Salomon (2003), p. 109.

  6. 6.

    Appleton (1991), p. 9.

  7. 7.

    Appleton (1991), p. 8.

  8. 8.

    Appleton (1991), p. 146.

  9. 9.

    Appleton (1991), p. 9.

  10. 10.

    Appleton (1991), p. 10.

  11. 11.

    European Parliament and the European Council (2010).

  12. 12.

    See e.g. Carbon Trust (2012) and The Economist (2011).

  13. 13.

    For more information see www.cites.org.

  14. 14.

    Thaler and Sunstein (2008).

  15. 15.

    Baisch (2016), pp. 217 and 224.

  16. 16.

    Schweizer (2016), pp. 93, 99 and 100; van Aaken (2015), pp. 13 et seq.

  17. 17.

    Schweizer (2016), p. 101; van Aaken (2015), p. 10.

  18. 18.

    European Food Sustainable Consumption and Production Roundtable: Guiding Principles, available at: www.food-scp.eu/files/Guiding-Principles.pdf [accessed 5 October 2017].

  19. 19.

    Howse (2014), p. 593.

  20. 20.

    Howse (2014), p. 595.

  21. 21.

    See first recital of the Preamble of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.

  22. 22.

    WTO (1998), para. 185.

  23. 23.

    WTO (1998, 2012a, 2013).

  24. 24.

    See WTO and UNEP (2009), para. 121.

  25. 25.

    Academic contributions on labels partly date back decades and cover only the then prevailing practice of voluntary labelling schemes, thus not reflecting present realities of mandatory labels.

  26. 26.

    See Charnovitz (2002), pp. 59–110; Potts (2008), pp. 8 et seqq.

  27. 27.

    See WTO (2012b), para. 342.

  28. 28.

    See e.g. WTO (2012b, c), para. 7.815.

  29. 29.

    WTO (1996a), para. 20; with reference to WTO (2011), para. 18; reiterated by WTO (2000a), para. 8.130 and para. 8.132.

  30. 30.

    First stated in GATT (1991), para. 5.14.

  31. 31.

    The benchmark standard of equal competitive opportunities was first established by the GATT (1989); subsequently followed in WTO jurisprudence, see e.g. WTO (1996b), pp. 16–17.

  32. 32.

    WTO (1997), para. 223.

  33. 33.

    WTO (1997), para. 270.

  34. 34.

    The term customs duties and charges also referred to in Article I:1 GATT is not relevant for eco-labels and does not need to be discussed in this context.

  35. 35.

    WTO (2000b), para. 84.

  36. 36.

    See e.g. WTO (1997), para. 232; WTO (2014), para. 7.600.

  37. 37.

    GATT (1988), para. 117.

  38. 38.

    WTO (2001), para. 11.17.

  39. 39.

    WTO (1999); as upheld by Appellate Body Report WT/DS90/ABR, para 5.128.

  40. 40.

    WTO (2001), para. 11.20.

  41. 41.

    The term “public procurement” (or “government procurement”) refers to the act of a public body buying the goods or services necessary to carry out public functions on the market place.

  42. 42.

    For further.discussions on this topic see e.g. Arrowsmith and Kunzlik (2009); Sjåfell and Wiesbrock (2016); Corvaglia (2016), p. 607.

  43. 43.

    Howse (2014), p. 593.

  44. 44.

    Although the GPA is a plurilateral agreement and as such only binding to its 47 Member States, it is nevertheless of significant implication, having led to fundamental changes and broad harmonisation of the procurement systems.

  45. 45.

    The term “technical specifications” refers to the mandatory requirements that tenderers must meet to be considered in the procurement process.

  46. 46.

    CJEU, Case C-368/10, European Commission v. Kingdom of the Netherlands (2012), ECLI:EU:C:2012:284 (Max Havelaar Case).

  47. 47.

    The Max Havelaar label seeks to promote the interests of local producers in developing countries and maintain “fair” trade conditions.

  48. 48.

    Max Havelaar Case, above n 46, paras. 73 et seq.

  49. 49.

    Max Havelaar Case, paras. 84 et seq.

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Acknowledgments

The support of the previous research assistant MLaw Rika Koch is highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rolf H. Weber

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  1. Rolf H. Weber
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Correspondence to Rolf H. Weber .

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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Klaus Mathis

  2. University of Notre Dame Law School , Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

    Bruce R. Huber

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Weber, R.H. (2018). Energy Labels: Nudging Policy to Avoid Trade Implications?. In: Mathis, K., Huber, B. (eds) Energy Law and Economics. Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74636-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74636-4_12

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