Regulatory coherence: an empirical approach

Research project on regulatory coherence in Free Trade Agreements. The researcher will undertake qualitative research on the implementation of FTA chapters addressing regulatory coherence, focusing on the EU-Japan EPA, CPTPP, CETA and USMCA. These chapters establish obligations to discuss strategies for bridging the gap between the Parties' regulations. They have been characterised in academic literature as a force for overcoming regulatory barriers and a means for the US and EU to consolidate global influence through influencing other countries' regulatory processes, but very little empirical research has been undertaken to test these hypotheses.

In both cases, the PhD research will draw from desk-based analysis of FTA regulatory coherence/cooperation texts as well as publicly-available reports from meetings of relevant FTA committees, academic articles, OECD literature on regulatory cooperation, reports by international organisations. It will also encompass qualitative interviews with government officials and regulators, business representatives and civil society stakeholders, drawing from the extensive contacts of the supervisors. The PhD research will help to shed light on the project's core research aims: assessing the impact and utilisation of these chapters in practice, the effectiveness with which they achieve their stated aims, and the extent to which they suppress and/or magnify particular stakeholder influence.