Charlotte Sieber-Gasser (PhD, World Trade Institute, University of Bern) is Senior Researcher of the SNSF Sinergia Project «Making Trade Agreements Work in the Service of Society» at the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, and Lecturer in International Trade Regulation at the University of Zurich and in Law of Sustainable Development at the University of Lucerne. Charlotte’s research and teaching focuses on the role of the law in the creation of a just global market.
Prior to joining the Graduate Institute, Charlotte was Senior Academic Assistant and Lecturer at the University of Lucerne, and Lecturer at the Universities of Andrassy Budapest, Zurich and St. Gallen. Among others, she taught Swiss public law, EU law, and international trade and investment law, while conducting research for her second monograph on the role of direct democracy in the process of international economic integration in Switzerland. Linked with this research, Charlotte worked as a PostDoc Researcher at the DCU Brexit Institute, Dublin City University, in 2019.
Charlotte was a Doctoral and PostDoc Fellow of the SNSF NCCR International Trade Regulation at the World Trade Institute, University of Bern. Her award-winning PhD thesis examines the role of WTO/GATS flexibilities in the implementation of development-promoting South-South economic partnerships (published as: Developing Countries and Preferential Services Trade, Cambridge University Press, 2016). Charlotte studied law in Switzerland (Universities of Fribourg and Bern), and development studies in the UK (Global Development Institute, University of Manchester).
She is a co-founder of the Swiss Open Access law journal sui generis and the founder, together with Elisabeth Bürgi-Bonanomi, of the Swiss Network for Law & Sustainable Development. Her research findings and work as a consultant contribute to sustainable development, transparency and inclusion in trade policy in Europe, in developing countries and at the WTO. Charlotte can be followed on Twitter or on Linkedin, and her publications are, among others, available here.
Selected Publications
‘Services Trade Liberalisation in the Australia – EU FTA: Progress but not Quantum-Leap’ (2022) In: M. Bungenberg and A. Mitchell (eds.), EYIEL Special Issue: The Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Springer, 59-78.
‘Sustainable Development Goals vs Non-Discrimination in WTO Law’ (2021) Indian Journal of International Economic Law, 82-118, together with S. Kalra & A. Vishwas Sheth.
‘Green(er) trade in services’ (2021) In: P. Delimatsis and L. Reins (eds.), Encyclopedia of Environmental Law: Trade and Environmental Law, Edward Elgar, 395-399.
Democracy and Globalization: Legal and Political Analysis on the Eve of the 4th Industrial Revolution (2021) Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship Series, Springer, C. Sieber-Gasser and A. Ghibellini (eds).
‘Flexibilities in International Economic Law vs. pacta sunt servanda: Maintaining Legitimacy Over Time’ (2021) In: C. Sieber-Gasser and A. Ghibellini (eds.) Democracy and Globalisation: Legal and Political Analysis on the Eve of the 4th Industrial Revolution, Springer, 201-220.
Please, Reboot – Small Economies and the WTO Appellate Mechanism in Times of Trade War and COVID-19 (August 2020). ESIL Virtual Workshop “International Economic Law between Emergencies and Reforms”.
Selected Virtual and Public Media
“Die EU entdeckt ihre Handelsmacht”, Interview, Republik, 3 May 2022.
“Wir müssen endlich unsere Hausaufgaben machen”, 30 min Video-Interview, Schweizer Monat, 15 October 2021.
«EU-Swiss Relations – Moving in on their Tipping Point», Blog, BRIDGE – multi-disciplinary academic network, 16 June 2021.
«Is the Future of Preferential Trade in Sustainable Production Only?», Blog, Trade Experettes, 16 March 2021.
«Law Matters», Podcast, used for online teaching (Law of Sustainable Development, University of Lucerne and International Trade Regulation, Andrássy University Budapest).