The principles of classical international economic law, as it developed during the 19th and the first part of the 20th century, were based upon the three fundamentals of freedom, legal equality, and reciprocity. UNGA resolutions 3201(S-VI) and 3281(XX1X) of 1974 embody the legal principles upon which a new international economic order (NIEO) should be based. These principles in their turn are based upon the three N1EO fundamentals of protection of the economic interests of developing countries, preferential treatment of developing countries, and non-reciprocity in the relationship between developed and developing countries. The present study investigates to what extent these three NIEO fundamentals have become implemented in the legal practice of a notorious classical institution, the GATT, and have thereby passed the border between UNGA recommendations and binding law. It concludes that, although GATT practice reveals a substantial effort to give implementation to the NIEO fundamentals, so far it has provided developing contracting parties with only few true preferential rights.

The article deals with the advantages and disadvantages of an international solution for the safe, permanent disposal or long-term storage of high level radioactive waste from a legal perspective. Firstly, some early attempts to create an International Waste Repository (IWR) and their subsequent fate are examined. Next to this, pros and cons of an IWR in the context of recent national and international developments in the management of, and trade in radioactive waste, are considered. Main related question is, whether an international solution to waste disposal is a useful option. Finally, the legal and institutional problems which must be considered if states decide to create an international facility for waste disposal are described. Special attention is given to a model provided for in Chapter V of the Euratom Treaty of 1957.

This article deals with the question which rules of origin to apply in order to determine the origin of products imported from the non-independent territories associated with the European Communities. This is examined by means of an analysis of the nature of the association of these countries with the EC, the text of Article 133 of the EEC Treaty, as well as purpose and relevant objectives of the association. It will also be examined whether a restrictive rule of origin for the purpose of preventing trade deflection is compatible with the EEC Treaty. The main thesis is that in the trade between the EC and the ‘Overseas Countries and Territories’ (OCT) the same rules of origin should apply as for the intra-community trade.

With the restoration of diplomatic relations between Argentina and the United Kingdom earlier this year, the conflict on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) enters a new phase. Kay Hooghoudt looks back at the conflict and describes the lessons that can be learned from it. His main conclusion is that as a consequence of the attitude of the UK in the decolonization proces the dispute shifted from a conflict on territorial sovereignty to a dispute on the obligation to negotiate. The author holds that as the Security Council did not act adequately, Argentina did not act contrary to international law by using force to compel the UK to continue the negotiations on sovereignty over the islands. Now that negotiations have started again, the Security Council should act in order to ensure that these negotiations will deal with the crux of the matter, the issue of sovereignty.

In 1982 the Netherlands suspended the operation of a treaty between Surinam and the Netherlands which obliges the Netherlands to render development assistance to Surinam. This was justified by invoking a fundamental change of circumstances: a coup d'etat which destroyed democracy and led to serious human rights violations. Bosma examines both substantive and procedural aspects of the suspension and concludes that the Netherlands did not correctly invoke a fundamental change of circumstances.

When the long-frozen societies in Eastern Europe started to come back to life last year they did so with a speed that quite bewildered the average western observer. So much was, and is, happening that it was almost impossible to follow all the important events. This maelstrom of internal developments was soon reflected in an equally rapid breaking up of long-frozen international structures on the European continent.

Before the recent adoption, by the Council of Ministers of the EEC, of a directive concerning EEC ‘television law’, technical developments in the European television industry were definitely outpacing legal ones. The emergence of cable and satellite television encouraged both broadcasting companies and advertisers to start operating on a European, instead of merely on a national level. This happened at first in a legal void which was eventually partly filled by the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Amongst others the relevant cases are the Sacchi Case and Debauve Case. The former established inter alia that the articles of the Treaty of Rome governing the free provision of services, also apply to television transmissions. The latter states that the same applies to cable television services.

By now it is commonplace that developments in Europe take place faster than any observer, who intends to write an analysis, would prefer. The degree of difficulty to predict the directions in which Europe will develop itself, is only matched by the importance to study the landmarks that have already been reached.

The astonishing sequence of events during the past twelve months which have completely turned Eastern Europe upside down and mark the beginning of a new era of which nobody yet knows the outlines, has turned out to be of crucial importance for the future of the European Communities as well. One of the international fora where this is obvious, is the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. With Soviet President Gorbachov calling for a follow-up Conference this November, American President Bush willing to give Western Europe -read the E.C.- primary responsibility for the economic resurrection and political integration within the West of Eastern Europe; West German Chancellor Kohl totally preoccupied by German unification, British Prime Minister, Thatcher, and French President, Mitterand, unable to give Western Europe the lead, necessary and desired, the European Communites have a unique political opportunity to take some decisive steps towards the proclaimed ultimate goal of a European Union by further tightening the Communities and enforcing their autonomous role, inter alia within the CSCE. At the same time, those steps not only seem legally desirable, but e.g. with respect to that same CSCE, perhaps also necessary for purposes of international law!