Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in International Economic Law

International economic law, with its traditional focus on large multinational enterprises, is only slowly waking up to the new reality of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entering the global marketplace. In the wake of the digital revolution, smaller companies now play an important role in the global economic landscape. In 2015 the UN expressly called for SMEs to have greater access to international trade and investment, and it is increasingly recognized that the integration of SMEs provides one of the keys to creating a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. As SMEs increasingly permeate transnational supply chains, so interactions between these companies and international economic law and policy proliferate. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in International Economic Law offers the first comprehensive analysis of the interaction between SMEs and international economic law. This book presents a broad international perspective, gathering together contributions by leading experts from academia, legal practice, and international organizations. It opens up a field of enquiry into this so far unexplored dynamic and provide a touchstone for future debate. The analysis covers a broad spectrum of international trade and investment law focusing on issues of particular interest to SMEs, such as trade in services, government procurement, and trade facilitation. Diverse perspectives illuminate regional developments (in particular within the EU) and the implications of mega-regional free trade agreements. The essays also examine questions of legitimacy of global economic governance; in particular, concerns surrounding the threat posed to the interests of domestic SMEs by the growing liberalization of international trade and investment. These essays constitute essential reading for practitioners and academics seeking to navigate a previously neglected trend in international economic law. Contributors to this volume - Michael K. Addo is Professor at the School of Law, University of Exeter and member of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights. Rudolf Adlung is an independent trade policy analyst. Formerly he worked at the WTO Secretariat (Trade in Services Division). Perry S. Bechky is the Principal of International Trade & Investment Law PLLC and Visiting Scholar, Seattle University School of Law. Lucian Cernat is Chief Trade Economist of the European Commission. Tilman Michael Dralle is a Doctoral Candidate in International Economic Law at the University of Dresden. Fulvia Farinelli is Senior Economic Officer at UNCTAD. Rebecca Fawcett-Feuillette is Legal Counsel, Legal Compliance, LEGO Group, London. Alexander Gebert is a Solicitor (Rechtsanwalt) in Munich. Arancha Gonzalez serves as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC). Joachim Karl is Chief of the Policy Research Section, Division on Investment and Enterprise, UNCTAD Martina Lodrant is a Policy Officer in the European Commission. Katrien Miclotte is an Associate at the Brussels office of DLA Piper and research assistant at the Institute for European Law of the Catholic University of Leuven. Anna Caroline Muller is Legal Affairs Officer in the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Policy Division of the WTO. Fiorina Mugione has served as Chief of the Entrepreneurship Section of UNCTAD. Caroline Nicholas is Senior Legal Officer at the UNCITRAL Secretariat (International Trade Law Division, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs). Karsten Potschke is Head of Division Personnel & Organisation at KEM Kommunalberatung Mitteldeutschland GmbH. Thilo Rensmann holds the Chair of Public, International and European law at Augsburg University. Formerly he was Director of the School of International Studies at the University of Dresden where he led the Research Centre for International Economic Law. Ilan Sherr is a Senior Associate at DLA Piper in their EU and Competition practice in London and a member of the Steering Committee of the UK State Aid Law Association. Marta Soprana is an independent trade policy analyst. Heng Wang is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales, Australia and Adjunct Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, China.