His departure does not come at the best time. Roberto Azevedo will leave the head of the World Trade Organization on Monday, leaving an institution in crisis. With the US elections in November, discussions to find a replacement could drag on.
Pressure from Washington
In the midst of the global economic slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization needs more than ever to have a captain at its helm. Several major projects await the future boss of the WTO: preparing for the 2021 ministerial conference, relaunching negotiations and resolving the conflicts between the organization and the United States. Washington, considering itself "unfairly" treated by the policeman of world trade, threatened to leave the organization, which it calls for the overhaul, and since December paralyzes the appeals tribunal of its dispute settlement body.
“The United States wants the next CEO to share American concerns, many of which relate to China. Since the managing director is chosen by consensus, this firm position complicates the selection, ”points out the professor in international relations Manfred Elsig, of the World Trade Institute in Bern. "It may well be that many members of the WTO want to wait until after the election, hoping that the administration changes," he said.
A surprise resignation
In mid-May, Roberto Azevedo announced to everyone's surprise that he would leave his post a year before the end of his mandate for "family reasons". There is no shortage of candidates for his succession. There are eight of them, including three Africans, two Europeans, two Asians and one Latin American. But high international tensions and the growing politicization of elections for the head of international organizations risk complicating the nomination process. The WTO is to conduct a first round of consultations with each member from September 7 to 16 in order to eliminate the three candidates least placed to garner consensual support. Two more rounds of consultations will follow, likely in October and November.
After the departure of Roberto Azevedo, one of the four deputy directors of the WTO - an American, a German, a Nigerian and a Chinese, was to act as interim. But Washington and Brussels failed to come to an agreement. Elvire Fabry, a researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute, notes that "the American veto" on the nomination of the German, which was supported by most countries, is first of all linked to President Donald Trump's desire "to harden the balance of power with the European Union (…) on the eve of the elections ”. The WTO will therefore have to wait a while to resume its driving role on international trade issues.
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