Public play upon private standards How European and international economic law enter into voluntary regimes for sustainability

The emergence, consolidation, and proliferation of private product standards in the domain of sustainability has been one of the most striking features in global governance in the social and environmental fields. Companies, sectoral associations and multi-stakeholder organisations set and enforce standards defining products and process features in domains ranging from forestry to fisheries, from agricultural products to raw materials, and from textiles to biofuels. Certified goods, as well as Fair trade and animal welfare-compliant products are now ubiquitous in European stores and homes. Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) are voluntary regulatory schemes designed by private bodies with the purpose of addressing, directly or indirectly, and by means of third-party certification of products and processes, the social and environmental impact resulting from the production of goods. Following the assertion that public authorities should play an increasingly visible role in transnational private regulation by means of directing mechanisms, this book examine the interaction between VSS and the rules and meta-rules of European and international economic law regimes. The goal of this dissertation is to assess the extent to which European Union (EU) internal market law and World Trade Organisation (WTO) law apply, or can be interpreted to apply to VSS, in particular with the goal to address and remedy barriers to market access and consumer confusion generated by private standards.