Two Bocconi Professors in European Experts Pool for Trade Arbitrations

Paola Mariani and Claudio Dordi, both from the Department of Legal Studies, have been selected to be part of the group of legal experts available to the European Commission for the role of arbitrators to be appointed for international trade disputes. The selection was preceded by a call for applications launched in December 2020.

The Union, which along with China and the United States is one of the most important players in global trade, has agreements with several third countries either directly or as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). These agreements have very complex implementation processes that can frequently give rise to disputes between the Union and other countries. The treaties signed by the European Union stipulate that arbitrations are instruments for settling disputes. To give an idea of how significant this type of litigation is, as of July 2022 the EU had 53 open disputes with 16 foreign countries as counterparts.

The group of experts, some of which from countries outside the EU, includes about 400 people. "The selection," Paola Mariani comments, "was carried out after a public call for applications and a scrutiny of resumes rather than by co-optation as in the past, and this is one reason why the group is much more balanced than before between women and men. Traditionally, in fact, women were excluded from these appointments, despite the existence of experienced female academics and professionals, as the new list shows."