What better way to tie up the week than with a run-through of pacta sunt servanda?
A short thread, with pictures
Thanks to @Cardwell_PJ & Therese O'Donnell @UniStrathclyde for their help on this (any errors will be mine)
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As a bit of context, PSS is a basis of customary international law, and a cornerstone of the Vienna Convention: without it, the whole treaty-making business really has no point at all
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It's important to highlight that PSS carries implications, not least that states are free to enter treaties and to act freely elsewhere, but it's on them to only enter into commitments they can keep
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Once in a treaty, you're committing to following the rules as much as they are agreed among you
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And if you want out, but the other party/parties don't agree, then you haven't got many legitimate options open to you (hence why you should think carefully before entering into things in the first place)
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So here's your summary: no-one forces you to sign up, so it's on you to follow through
Slightly hard to categorise these measures, but roughly:
- 6 items of promised legislation
- 5 new institutional arrangements
- 5 commitments/promises on things (not) to do
- 4 ongoing pieces of work
- 2 procedural changes
- 1 clarification
- 1 relabelling
Lots of talk about regulatory alignment right now, so here's a go at unpacking what it involves, and what happens when you step away.
Let’s start with a model world, with 3 states
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In this world, each state has some different regulations (each arrow): how much arrow point in the same direction shows how much they match up with their counterpart in other countries
(yes, it's more complicated than this, but you get the drift)
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Each of these regulations forms some kind of barrier to trade
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While not unprecedented, it's unusual for such a letter to be written: treat it as a demonstration of collective intent and openness
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For those in the UK unfamiliar with #EuropeDay, it's the main occasion when the EU recalls its roots in the 1950 Schuman Declaration as a peace project, hence the opening of the letter