Trade Implementation and Enforcement Research Network (TIER)

TIER comprises PhD students, ECRs and senior scholars not only from the United Kingdom and the European Union, but across the globe. The network was conceived by Dr Elitsa Garnizova and is hosted by the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, Bulgaria. TIER welcomes scholars working on trade policy and related disciplines and looks forward to engaging at UACES and other events. 

TIER registration form.

Steering Committee 2023:

Dr Jean-Baptiste Velut (Sorbonne Nouvelle University of Paris)

Dr Maria Garcia (University of Bath);

Professor Sangeeta Khorana (Bournemouth University)

Aims and objectives:

1. To bring together different strands of research on negotiation, implementation and enforcement of trade provisions, as well as to make linkages to other areas of EU policy making, from which trade can learn such as foreign policy and development. 
2. To examine the evolution of the ‘open strategic autonomy’ approach and understand how it relates to processes of politicisation and depoliticisation of trade policy. 
3. To create linkages between scholars using qualitative and quantitative measurement techniques and engage ECR and PhD students.

Summary of events in 2022:

• We organised a virtual roundtable on New Trends in Implementation and Enforcement of Trade and Sustainable Development Provisions, which included an exciting panel of speakers, covering multiple approaches and models to implementation and enforcement. 
• We organised two panels at the UACES 2022 Annual Conference in Lille, introducing the network and planning (predominantly under pouring rain) next steps. 
• We also organised a session at the WTO Public Forum 2022, which gathered for the first time since the pandemic scholars, practitioners and experts across the world. It was another great occasion to introduce TIER and align it with everything that is happening on trade and sustainability in Geneva.