Publications by Wybe Douma

• W.Th. Douma and L. Massai (eds.), The Kyoto Protocol and Beyond: Legal and Policy Challenges of Climate Change (The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press 2007)
  In this book, the legal challenges to tackle climate change are discussed. The role of the European Union in its relation to other states forms one of the focus points of attention, notably where the Russian Federation is concerned on which the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol depended. The linkages with WTO accession negotiations and the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement are examined in depth.
• W.Th. Douma, ‘Handelsbeperkingen ten behoeve van het klimaat in het licht van het internationale handelsrecht: realistische optie of FAIRy tale?’ (Trade barriers in support of climate change viewed through the prism of international trade law: realistic option or FAIRytale?), 35Milieu & Recht (2008), pp. 414-420
  Ensuring the conformity of EU law to the international trade regime forms a constant challenge. This paper analyses which policy options the EU has to stimulate the fight against climate change through trade instruments. The conclusion is that when the many conditions as clarified in case law from the Appellate Body are met when designing such an instrument, the instrument could pass the WTO conformity test.
• W.Th. Douma, ‘Israel and the Palestinian Authority’, in S. Blockmans and A. Lazowski (eds.), The European Union and its Neighbours – A Legal Appraisal of the EU’s Policies of Stabilisation, Partnership and Integration (The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press 2006), pp. 433-461
  This extensive paper investigates the relations between the EU and Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Both the political and the trade relations are discussed, as is the way in which trade from Palestinian produced goods should proceed in theory and what is happening in practice.
• W.Th. Douma, The Precautionary principle: Its application in International, European and Dutch Law (The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press 2004)
  In this book, the status and application in practice of the precautionary principle are discussed. By examining case law at the three investigated levels (international, European and national Dutch law) it is concluded that the principle probably does not yet form a binding principle of international law but that it fulfils an important role in some case law nevertheless. In the EU the principle was codified in the EC Treaty, but its application in practice in cases decided by the ECJ do not bring about radical changes. In the Netherlands, the principle is not codified but is applied in case law, notably via general principles of administrative law.  The tension between EU policy and law with third countries is investigated extensively, notably where trade conflicts with the USA, Canada and others are concerned on issues such as hormones in beef and GMO’s.
• W.Th. Douma, ‘ Implementatie van de Dienstenrichtlijn: een administratieve krachttoer ten behoeve van minder bureaucratie’, (Implementation of the Services Directive: an administrative tour de force aimed at less bureaucracy), Regelmaat (2007), pp. 181-189
  This article deals with Europe’s efforts to reduce bureaucracy and red tape, and thus to improve governance and stimulate economic growth. In many of its programmes in third countries, these issues form an important focus point.
• W.Th. Douma, ‘ Russia and the enlarged European Union: mending fences whilst shaping a Wider Europe’s environment’, in J.W. de Zwaan, J. Jans, F.A. Nelissen and S. Blockmans (eds.), The European Union, a Gradual Process of Integration (The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press 2004), pp. 319-336
  This contribution discusses the EU-Russia relationship which constantly asks the most of the EU’s foreign policy, as is highlighted by examining the way in which the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement came into being in the 1990’s and how it worked out in practice. Also, the reasons for not shaping the relationship with the help of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the creation instead of Four Common Spaces is examined.