Political Contestation about International Economic Agreements: Lessons for the Canada-UK Trade Relationship after Brexit

近年来，一些国际经济协定--例如加拿大与欧洲联盟(欧盟)缔结的《全面经济贸易协定》(CETA)--引起了相当大的公众争议，而其他一些协定则基本上逃脱了公众的监督。随着加拿大和英国准备就英国退欧后的经济关系进行谈判，重要的是要了解在哪些情况下双边经贸协议会在政治上产生争议。在设计贸易政策过程时，政策制定者还必须考虑如何预见公众对此类协议的争议，以便将政治辩论引导到有影响力的公开辩论中。这一知识综合项目评估了关于这些问题的研究知识的状况。它解决了以下问题：为什么一些国际协议在政治上变得有争议，而另一些协议几乎没有在公开辩论中登记？在协议变得具有政治争议性的情况下，哪些论点主导了辩论？在一项潜在的加拿大-英国协议中，可能引发公开争议的是什么？制定了哪些最佳做法，以便将与贸易有关的政治争议引导到制定国际经济政策的过程中，包括增加谈判的透明度，在早期阶段就吸收不同的利益攸关方和观点，并向更广泛的公众通报谈判结果？关于这些问题的研究知识的拟议综合将确定这一新兴学术研究领域的研究优势和差距；它还将帮助政策制定者就即将到来的加拿大-英国贸易谈判的治理做出关键决策，目的是促进包容各方和以证据为基础的公开辩论。

In recent years, some international economic agreements - such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) concluded between Canada and the European Union (EU) - have generated considerable public controversy, while others have largely escaped public scrutiny. As Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) prepare to negotiate their post-Brexit economic relationship, it is important to understand under which conditions bilateral economic and trade agreements become politically contentious. Policy makers will also have to consider how public controversies about such agreements can be anticipated in designing the trade policy process, so that political contestation is channelled into impactful public debates. This knowledge synthesis project assesses the state of research knowledge on these issues. It addresses the following questions: Why do some international agreements become politically contentious, while others hardly register in public debates? Which arguments dominate debates in those instances in which agreements become politically contentious? What could be flashpoints of public contestation in a potential Canada-UK agreement? What best practices have been developed to channel trade-related political controversies into the process of making international economic policy, inter alia by increasing the transparency of negotiations, incorporating diverse stakeholders and viewpoints from an early stage, and informing the broader public about negotiation results? The proposed synthesis of research knowledge on these questions will identify researchstrengths and gaps in this emergent field of scholarly inquiry; it will also aid policy makers in making crucial decisions on the governance of the upcoming Canada-UK trade negotiations, with the objective of facilitating an inclusive and evidence-based public debate.