Peter Van den Bossche honored at International Colloquium

This colloquium brought together friends of Peter Van den Bossche, including his mentor, colleagues and students to pay tribute to his invaluable contribution to the evolution and understanding of WTO law as a rules-based system eliciting trust.

From Thomas Cottier:

Monday, December 17, 2018, an international colloquium took place, honouring Professor Peter van den Bossche at the Maastricht faculty of Law. Restoring Trust in Trade was a timely topic, and friends and colleagues presented papers of  the liber amicorum published by Hart with a similar title. Dénise Prevost, Iveta Alexovičová and Jens Hillebrand Pohl carefully organised the meeting and edited the volume. The topic was well chosen. Papers and presentations addressed the current challenges which the multilateral trading system, dear to the heart of Peter, faces in terms of governance, dispute settlement and specific regulatory areas. The volume offers a timely account. The day conveyed a particular collegial atmosphere and academic culture at Maastricht. Peter worked and taught for 25 years at the faculty, building European and international economic law and corresponding programmes. It was touching to feel the gratitude extended to Peter by his colleagues and friends, and how much it meant to him. Peter’s concluding remarks expressed grave concerns on what is at stake in the multilateral system, comparing the situation to the 1930s when the League of Nations faltered. But by his very personality, he conveyed the hope that reason, culture and decency will eventually prevail. The World Trade Institute is proud and lucky to have Peter in Bern, conveying the best of Maastricht’s academic tradition, and we all heartfully join in congratulating him.

Slides and video recordings of the presentations are available here. The contributions are compiled in a Liber Amicorum published by Hart.