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Michael Reder {*}

Reform of World Trade and of the WTO

Ethical and Political Considerations

From: Stimmen der Zeit, 6/2007, P. 389-401
webmaster's own, not authorized translation

The institution most important for the political organization of the world trade is the World Trade Organization (WTO). Its aim is above all the reduction of custom tariffs and trade obstacles. In the past years the World Trade Organization has repeatedly been fiercely criticized above all for all its thinking about liberalisation of the world trade it too little considered the needs of the poorest people. Now the current negotiations of the World Trade Organization, the so-called Doha development round, should in particular improve the situation of the poor and poorest countries. But these negotiations are meanwhile also "officially in a crisis" {1}, and an agreement in this question is out of view. The positions of the rich countries of the north and the poorest countries of the south as well as those of the rising and poor developing countries lie too far apart. This shows the enormous difficulties of the political organization of a world trade that is to do justice to all interests. It concerns particularly the question whether and how the world-wide poverty can be decreased by the political organization of world trade. The following considerations are oriented towards the study "World Trade in the Service of the Poor" of the group of experts "Social Ethics and World Economy" of the German Bishops' Conference, which was published in spring 2006 {2}.

Developments of World Trade and of the WTO

As already at the beginning of the 20th century since the end of the Second World War a strong growth of world trade is to be registered. This growth is embedded in the process of globalization, which today covers many and diverse ranges of the economic, political and cultural life. Globalization can be understood here as the condensation and acceleration of global interactions in different fields. This process is promoted by most different participants such as states and international institutions, but also by non-governmental organisations and trans-national enterprises {3}.

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Within the range of world trade the process of globalization has led to an intensified trade with goods and services. This applies to all countries world-wide; but it must be added that clear differences are obvious, for the rich industrialized countries have compared with the developing countries still the largest share in world trade. But also within the group of developing countries clear differences become apparent. Whereas some developing countries for example in Southeast Asia are meanwhile very well integrated into world trade, such a development does not occur in other countries, particularly not in Africa. Besides, there are also differences with regard to the goods the individual countries bring into world trade {4}. Poorer developing countries usually export primary goods, above all raw materials. This becomes a problem, because the prices of raw materials on the world markets vary strongly. By comparison the industrialized countries usually exhibit a high product variety; furthermore the development and production of many of the finished products exported by them have to rely on well trained people and a highly effective research.

Not only the changes in the fields of telecommunications and transport contributed to the growth of world trade, but also political decisions, above all the reduction of trade obstacles. In the past years above all those tariffs were reduced that shield the national markets against foreign competition. After the Second World War this reduction of tariffs was adopted by international treaties. The following rounds of negotiations deepened these agreements, until finally in 1995 the World Trade Organization resulted from them. Priority goal of the World Trade Organization is the liberalisation of the trans-national trade. By institutionalizing this aim the organisation of a comprehensive and institutional framework for all ranges of world trade was started. Apart from the trade with goods today in the World Trade Organization also the service trade and commercial aspects of mental property are regulated by contract. Questions of world trade are now discussed in the framework of extensive rounds of negotiations. From institutional perspective particularly the procedure for the arbitration of controversies is to be emphasized, with which commercial disputes between individual WTO member countries can be settled. The WTO treaty provides also sanctions in case of violations of rules.

There are different obligations and principles within the WTO regulations. A central principle is that of most-favoured treatment. It says that advantages granted to one country must always also be granted to all other member countries. A second basic rule is equal treatment, i.e. foreign goods are to be equated with native goods regarding e.g. duties or legislation. Besides, the agreements of the WTO lay down mutuality in the reduction of trade obstacles. In principle applies that tariffs are allowed, but with regard to the overriding aim of trade liberalisation are to be reduced as far as possible.

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Independently of this institutional regulation of world trade into which today altogether 150 countries are included, within the debate about globalization it is disputed whether an integration into the world trade has per se positive effects for all countries, especially with regard to often very difficult efforts in developing countries to fight poverty with a lasting effect. For Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics, a representative of the Global Governance Paradigm, integration into the world trade is a necessary step, if poorer countries want to profit from the positive effects of world trade. For India for example, which still until some years ago resisted a complete integration, he demands: "India must liberalize - not because it has no other choice, but because this is the best choice." {5}

But today many empirical analyses of world trade show that world-economical integration can have positive and negative effects, particularly in view of overcoming poverty {6}. The integration into the world economy can bring positive stimuli for the own economy and the increase of welfare. In many East Asian countries, which today are considered as countries at the stage of economic take-off, the integration into the world economy for example had a very positive effect. But the current developments show also that not all countries necessarily profit from it. "There are states and whole regions that are so far to a large extent excluded from the potential benefit of globalization." {7} So most countries of Africa are by integration into world trade only in a limited way helped to fight poverty. The increase of prosperity depends not only on the integration into world trade, but also on many other factors, as e.g. product variety, training of employees, infrastructure and political stability of the country. Besides, the increase of border crossing trade does not always benefit all groupings in one's own country: The poorest sections of the population seldom profit from it.

Social-ethical Perspectives on World Trade

The preceding considerations show clearly that it is important for the political organization of world trade and its institutional order to develop a convincing social-ethical viewpoint from which political options can be unfolded argumentatively. Since global trade does not automatically produce prosperity for everybody, the question is to be asked which social-ethical standards can be invoked for the assessment of particular (economic-) political decisions. Social-ethical reflection assumes that economic acting is not an end in itself, but is to be asked which normative consequences it implies. The social-ethical considerations on world trade in this connection can refer to arguments of current discourses, particularly to the prevailing discourse on justice in political philosophy.

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Nearly all ethical approaches today work with the principle of justice, beginning with John Rawls over Michael Walzer up to Jürgen Habermas {8}. These approaches differ in two respects. On the one hand they diverge in the (meta-ethical) reasons given for justice as principle for the assessment of the social reality: John Rawls for example founds justice via the argument of the hypothetical original state, Jürgen Habermas however via the ideal communication community. But for the question about the ethical assessment of world trade these differences are not of great consequence. The second central point at issue is the question to what extent ethical principles as that of justice, can become universal, or whether one is -with regard to systematic criteria - to pay more attention to the normative differences between the individual cultures or societies. Thus Jürgen Habermas proceeds very clearly from a (formal) universalisation, whereas Michael Walzer wants to pay more attention to the normative traditions of the individual societies.

But independently of these different accents they all come to the result that a minimum of justice is to be realized for the organization of global structures, if the political decisions are also to be ethically legitimized. Exactly this is the salient point: Despite all differences certain aspects of justice can be worked out from at present common ethical approaches, which are demanded by all (in more or less clear form). These aspects are briefly to be gathered in the following and to be transferred into the field of political action - the organization of world trade. In this connection the different aspects of the justice principle can be divided in two higher groups. The first group concerns the rules of political order (in this case of world trade), the other group the effects on the environment and the everyday life of people world-wide.

1. The justice of a political order appears in this, whether all members of the community are equally and fairly integrated into the corresponding interaction processes of this order. Justice in world trade then means that a fair and just distribution between all participants in the market is made possible. Especially weaker market participants have to rely on it that they share in the overall economic welfare effects according to their performance. That is why the world-economical basic conditions should guarantee a fair economic distribution. Respect for the principle of transactional justice means e.g. that the rich countries do not on the one hand demand extensive trade liberalisations (e.g. within the range of the trade with services), but on the other hand continue to massively protect the areas sensitive for them, as e.g. the trade with agrarian goods.

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The justice of the order structures in a high measure also depends on how order-political basic conditions come into being and who decides which rules at what time apply or are repealed. Hence the principle of procedural justice is of decisive importance. Although all countries are to take part in the decisions of the World Trade Organization, de facto it is to be seen that poor and smaller countries still have only a small say in the organization of the world trade order; that as well as the missing transparency of the decision structures (e.g. by informal pre-arrangements of the richer countries) is just as well an indication of the insufficient observance of procedural justice.

With Habermas and his understanding of publicity it can also be stressed here that for the legitimacy of fair and transparent procedures not only state representatives, but also the public (e.g. in form of civilian-social groups) is to be integrated. In the age of globalization the democratic procedure gets "its legitimizing strength no longer only and not even primarily from participation and expression of will, but from the general accessibility of a deliberative process, the condition of which justifies the expectation of rationally acceptable results" {9}.

2. However a commercial order alone, which is in accordance with the principles of distributive- and procedural justice, does not yet guarantee ethical legitimacy. It is conceivable that the trade of goods and its political order from the perspective of distributive- and procedural justice are justly arranged, but de facto individual groups are unable to meet their need for goods. Hence the justice of world trade is also to be measured by the concrete life situation, which is a consequence of the political structuring of world trade. With it standard must be first the principle of needs-based justice, according to which the satisfaction of fundamental human needs has always highest priority. If political decisions about the organization of commercial structures lead to people being forced to live below the subsistence level, then these decisions are to be rejected from ethical criteria; they also contradict the social human right to an appropriate standard of living. Hence the principle of needs-based justice functions as necessary corrective to the principle of transactional justice, in order to grant - from social-ethical perspective - highest priority to the aim of fighting poverty.

From an ethical perspective the norms of a political order could only then be judged as fair, when world-wide all people get the same chances within this order. But the substantially worse starting chances of the poorer countries in the world trade are often neglected. Hence as further principle of this second group the justice of opportunity is particularly to be observed.

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Closely linked with the principle of justice of opportunity are the principles of gender justice and justice between generations. The principle of gender justice demands a special attention for the situation of women. They today play an important role in development processes, but their situation is - due to their disadvantaged social position - often worse than that of men. The principle of justice between generations means that also the foundations for the life of coming generations must be included into social and political decisions. This includes the responsibility to take precautions against the destruction of environmental goods, but also to preserve and to develop the social and cultural environment in its diversity.

Today human rights no longer embrace only the civil and political rights, such as freedom of opinion, freedom of association or participation, but also the economic, social and cultural rights (e.g. the right to an appropriate standard of living, social security or education). Today the human rights altogether are a special expression of the facets mentioned of the justice principle. From human dignity - the normative core of human rights - it can be derived that man is starting point, carrier and aim of all development. This requires a "development from below" {10}. Hence the participation in political, economic and social processes becomes a central principle. In economic perspective people must however also get a fair chance to take part in the trade and thus to share in its welfare effects. The preconditions for it can often not be created by the poor alone, but depend on assistance and on supporting institutions. It is above all about "political, legal and economic basic conditions, which further and strengthen the potential and the self-initiative "from below", starting with the people and communes up to states and regional unions" {11}. All these political measures are to aim at creating incentives for one's own effort as well as supporting civilian-social initiatives - may they be individual or joint ones.

Political Consequences

The World Trade Organization offers the possibility of setting up institutional rules in the trans-national trade with goods and services and of producing thus global legal security. If one refers to the social-ethical standards of justice for the assessment of the current situation of the World Trade Organization, then it turns out to be sure that there is clearly need for action. Within many areas the principles mentioned are only insufficiently observed. This suggests a substantial need of reform of the World Trade Organization, which in the following - with reference to the principles of justice - for some selected fields is shortly to be outlined.

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The principle of transactional justice in the trade between rich industry- and poorer developing countries is obviously ignored in some areas. This is particularly conspicuous with the rates of duty and direct and indirect subsidies in the agrarian trade. Admittedly meanwhile above all at the instigation of the developing countries the agrarian trade is obligatorily regulated also within the World Trade Organization, but that area still exhibits clear distortions {12}. Clare Short, the former development minister of Great Britain, made this clear at a conference of the Institute for Social Politics in Munich in September 2006 on the topic "Africa and Europe. Co-operation in a globalized world" with the following numbers: While still about a billion human beings have less than a dollar per day for surviving, each cow in the European Union is subsidized with about three dollars.

Industrialized countries try to protect their agriculture in various ways; hence there can hardly be any talk of a fundamental reduction of commercial obstacles for developing countries. So the rich countries actually still put up high commercial obstacles, which make the access to the market more difficult for agricultural products of the developing countries. The rates of duty are a special problem. They rise with the processing level, by which the import of finished agricultural products from developing countries is additionally made more difficult. Besides, in the last years many industrialized countries substantially subsidized the export of their agricultural products, what likewise offends against the principle of transactional justice. The developing countries time and again pointed to this problem, so that meanwhile an agreement on the reduction of those subsidies until 2015 has been reached. But the financial aids for agriculture are still extensive, particularly in the industrialized countries, but also in some countries at the stage of economic take-off. This contributes to the fact that the producers in those countries offer their products for prices that partly lie far below the production costs.

All this clearly infringes the principle of transactional justice. The distortions of competition impair the sales prospects of the poorer developing countries and likewise their agricultural production for their own consumption. Hence the industrialized countries as well as the countries at the stage of economic take-off, of which some - from the perspective of transactional justice likewise in an unjustified way - want to protect their agriculture, should agree to a reform of the WTO agricultural agreement up to a regulation with fair basic conditions.

Also with regard to the principle of procedural justice there is still a clear need of action. Not least by the many public protests of civilian-social groups - often parallel to the rounds of negotiations of the World Trade Organization as for instance in 1999 in Seattle - the unfair negotiation practice within the World Trade Organization was pointed out. Although the developing countries are today in the majority, their political weight in the negotiations is still relatively small. Also the lack of personnel and financial means makes it difficult to take part at all in the many parallel groups of negotiations and to deliver justified statements to complex negotiation contents.

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De facto often informal arrangements of the well equipped delegations of stronger countries determine the decision-making processes; the developing countries then have only the possibility of reacting to it. This shows the importance of the principle of procedural justice, which demands transparency and genuine participation of all countries.

With Habermas we already pointed to the importance of the public for the (ethical) legitimacy of political decisions in the age of globalization. This applies also to the procedures of the World Trade Organization. So for example civilian-social groups should be more strongly included in the consultation of developing countries, to improve their position in the negotiations. Many non-governmental organisations have at their disposal not only technical, internationally interlinked competence, but also direct contacts to the poor, so that they could make an important contribution to the WTO's orientation towards poverty and development. This knowledge should be used, by granting them for example the possibility to give their view in official procedures of the WTO, as (e.g.) in arbitration processes. By this the procedures of the World Trade Organization in all could be clearly improved procedure-ethically and the poor countries could get a new voice in the political concert.

At a summit of the United Nations in New York in the year 2000 the heads of state of 189 countries adopted the Millennium-Development-Goals. The first of those goals is to halve up to the year 2015 the portion of the world population suffering from extreme poverty and hunger. More than a billion people are affected by it. Even though the situation in some Southeast Asian countries has improved, in particular the situation in Africa south of the Sahara is dramatic. Jens Martens, director of the Global Policy Forum in Brussels, expressed the disappointment about the realization of the Millennium-Development-Goals on the occasion of the Millennium +5-summit in New York 2005 as follows:

"One could say the summit was in labour and gave birth to a mouse. Unfortunately the governments again were not able to pass the urgently needed steps for the world-wide fight against poverty and for the strengthening of the United Nations." {13}

Certainly, the trade liberalisation in the framework of the World Trade Organization "improved the chance for more growth and for the reduction of poverty in many countries". {14} But before the background of the principle of needs-based justice the World Trade Organization should commit itself more strongly than up to now to fight poverty, as it is planned in the millennium development goals mentioned. The WTO's regulations should in particular be examined with regard to the question how conductive or impeding their benefit is in the fight against poverty and in the realization of the principle of needs-based justice.

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The chances for a lasting development should be world-wide distributed as fairly as possible - so the basic intention of the considerations on the principle of justice of opportunity. But de facto today the chances are distributed in extremely different ways, depending on the social, political and economic state of affairs from which the integration into the world economy begins. According to the principle of justice of opportunity for that reason heed is particularly to be paid that until now excluded people and groups in the poorer countries get a larger chance to take part in economic and political processes. Their often neglected economical potential should be promoted by improved access to education, social security systems or the legal system and be utilized for the process of development. WTO could for example by purposeful scientific analyses more strongly take into account the effects of WTO regulations on the chances of the poorest sections of the population.

Due to worse starting conditions in the developing countries (e.g. by bad infrastructure or political instability) out of the social-ethical perspective preferential treatments can be justified with some regulations of the WTO, in order to embody the principle of justice of opportunity more strongly than up to now in the world trade. Exceptions from central WTO principles, as e.g. the most-favoured treatment, can contribute to more justice of opportunity of economically weaker countries. The possibility of preferential treatments was therefore already embodied in the World Trade Organization, but up to now they improve the chances of the poorer countries only partially. This is not only because they are partly insufficiently adapted to the actual problems of the developing countries, but because they in some cases are abused for political purposes by the industrialized countries, in order to carry through demands in other areas. Besides, a differentiated classification of the countries according to the level of development and economic possibilities is missing. Such an improved classification could help to adapt preferential treatments effectively to the respective situation, to reduce poverty and to open a meaningful integration into world trade for the poorer developing countries {15}.

The Role of the Catholic Church in the Reform of World Trade

In thinking about globalization today more and more the importance of civilian-social organizations is recognized. With the considerations about the improvement of procedural justice it has already been pointed to the importance of such organizations. With it not only NGOs such as Attac or Oxfam move into the centre of interest, but also religious communities as part of the civil society {16}.

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That again becomes particularly apparent in the current discourse of the political philosophy, for example with Jürgen Habermas. Whereas he in former times still argued that religions block communicative acting, because they do not release faithful participants in the discourse into the "unprejudiced area" of rational communication, this assessment today has clearly changed. Habermas now makes out religious citizens rather in their positive potentials for social discourses. For example religions can be an important moral resource for the society, because religious citizens have in a special way moral arguments at their disposal {17}. This applies also to their influence on the organization of world trade, which is finally represented by the example of the Catholic Church.

This influence can be exercised on the one hand by an active participation in the political debate about the order of world trade. On the other hand religious communities can give individual impulses to their members regarding a fairer world economy. As world church the Catholic Church is particularly obligated to it, because according to its conception of itself it is not allowed to pursue national self-interests, but is to have in mind the well-being of all peoples and human beings. Though it has not and does not claim specific economic authority, it is nevertheless challenged to contribute its central values to this field of politics.

With it the Catholic Church can fall back on the rich tradition of its social teachings, in the centre of which we find principles such as human dignity, public good, solidarity, subsidiarity and the option for the poor. These principles apply also to the organization of world trade, without containing finished political strategies. The ethical considerations on the standard of justice, developed in this essay, can directly be connected to the argumentations of the social doctrine. The principles of the social doctrine, to which we find parallels in all world religions, moreover own a high motivating power for the respective members of churches or religions. Just in the discussion about difficult political reforms the church can contribute a global perspective and appear as attorney of the poor.

In Germany the Catholic Church already for many years - often together with the Protestant Churches above all in the common conference Kirche und Entwicklung (GKKE - Church and Development) - has been stating its view on questions relating to trade policy. Going on from that, questions of a fair order of world trade on local church level can be more strongly brought up for discussion and discussed. The political lobbying of the churches, which for example for many years has been successfully practised by the German commission Justitia et Pax and by the church welfare organizations such as Misereor or the Evangelische Entwicklungsdienst (EED - Protestant development aid service) is just as important. This lobbying could be build up by more continuous dialogue structures between church and politics and church and economics, in order to get so more hearing for the positions of the churches.

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On the level of the local churches specific topics of world trade are of crucial importance. In the past years different campaigns pointed to problems of world trade, for example the campaign "Fair-Spielt" (play on words: 'verspielt' = playful) to the question of fair conditions of work in the East Asian toy industry. Another form are purposeful actions of parishes, associations or One-World-groups e.g. for the observance of social minimum standards in the production for the world market. Such actions are an important component of church commitment, in order to develop with the members of the church awareness for the problems of world trade and for fair consumer habits.

A further concrete example is Fair Trade, in which many parishes and groups have already been active for decades. By a meanwhile large network of a One-World-shops Fair Trade shows alternatives to the usual selling ways and commercial trading organisations. With it Fair Trade has different functions. Most important is probably forming the awareness for the negative effects of the present world trade for many people in the poor countries. Beyond that Fair Trade tries to mobilize the consumers for fairer commercial structures. In this respect the movement has also a considerable political potential. Changing consumption habits and buying products of fair trade can be presented as contribution to the reduction of poverty in developing countries, because so - the more successful this market becomes - more resources are by trade transferred into the developing countries.

Also in the countries of the south the local churches' commitment to questions of (the) world economy is to be promoted, because often just they have access to concrete information about the situation of the poorer social classes and the effects of commercial structures on their living conditions. This civilian-social potential should be used even more, so that the lobbying of the churches is really orientated towards the concrete needs of the poorest. One possibility would be to establish or strengthen commissions of the papal council Justitia et Pax in the countries of the south and the east.

The connection of concrete experiences and systematic reflection is more strongly than up to now politically to be implemented also on world-church level. Also as political actor, for example in the UN or also in the World Trade Organization, the Catholic Church has direct access to the political arrangement of the world trade. Such possibilities the church could even more use to politically represent the concerns of the poorest. A further possibility is given by international unions and co-operatives of church groups and welfare organizations, which already today collect knowledge about many topics of commercial policy and formulate positions. The International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), a union of fifteen Catholic development organizations from Europe

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and North America, occupies itself with the topics of the WTO negotiations. The search for alternative commercial strategies, which above all benefit the poorest and increase the security of nutrition in the sense of the principle of needs-based justice, are an important field of CIDSE's lobbying. To further global justice CIDSE becomes - by studies and appropriate public relations work - involved in the reforms of the world trade regulations, in order to particularly further the social human rights of the poorest. {18}

In Habermas' view religious communities are actors of the civil society. As such they of course have only conditioned influence on the institutional organization of the political order. Due to the high motivation of their members, the connection between north and south in their organization itself and their theology, someone involved like the Catholic Church is particularly challenged to actively develop this role. So perhaps a step forward can be taken to implement more lastingly the explicated standards of justice and to push ahead the reforms of world trade.

NOTES

{1} T. Reichert, Von Sackgasse zu Sackgasse: Die Doha-Runde jetzt offiziell in der Krise, in: Informationsbrief Weltwirtschaft & Entwicklung 7/8 (2006) 1.

{2} Welthandel im Dienst der Armen. Eine Studie der Sachverständigengruppe "Weltwirtschaft u. Sozialethik", edited by the scientific working group for world-church tasks of the German Bishops' Conference (Bonn 2006). The author of this article was the responsible assistant for this study group of experts.

{3} See to the analysis of globalization: Die vielen Gesichter der Globalisierung. Perspektiven einer menschengerechten Weltordnung. Eine Studie der Sachverständigengruppe "Weltwirtschaft u. Sozialethik" u. der kirchlichen Werke Adveniat, Caritas international, Misereor, missio Aachen, missio München und Renovabis, edited by the scientific working group for world-church tasks of the German Bishops' Conference (Bonn 1999); for a detailed analysis of the global dynamics under the aspect of global governance see M. Reder, Global Governance. Philosophische Modelle von Weltpolitik (Darmstadt 2006).

{4} See J. Müller u. J. Wallacher, Entwicklungsgerechte Weltwirtschaft. Perspektiven für eine sozial u. umweltverträgliche Globalisierung (Stuttgart 2005) 41-65.

{5} M. Desai, What should be India's economic priorities in a globalising world?: www.icrier.org/pdf/Mdesai.PDF (translation by the author).

{6} Die Zukunft des Welthandelssystems. Perspektiven u. Reformvorschläge deutscher u. internationaler Nichtregierungsorganisationen, edited by B. Engels u. K. Liebig (Hamburg 1999); VENRO e.V., Handel - Ein Motor für die Armutsbekämpfung. Entwicklungspolitische Perspektiven zur Doha-Runde der WTO (Bonn 2003); Gerechtigkeit im Welthandel. Eine Bewertung aus entwicklungspolitischer u. christlicher Perspektive, edited by Misereor (Aachen 2005); Oxfam, Rigged Rules and Double Standards. Trade, Globalisation and the Fight against Poverty (London 2004).

{7} S. Klasen, Armutsreduzierung im Zeitalter der Globalisierung, in: Globalisierung u. Armut. Wie realistisch sind die Millenniums-Entwicklungsziele der Vereinten Nationen, edited by J. Wallacher u. M. Kiefer (Stuttgart 2006) 8.

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{8} J. Rawls, Gerechtigkeit als Fairness. Ein Neuentwurf (Frankfurt 2003); J. Habermas, Der gespaltene Westen (Frankfurt 2004); M. Walzer, Sphären der Gerechtigkeit. Ein Plädoyer für Pluralität u. Gleichheit (Frankfurt 1992).

{9} J. Habermas, Die postnationale Konstellation (Frankfurt 1998) 166.

{10} See Müller and Wallacher (A. 4) especially 113-119.

{11} In the same place 116.

{12} See for this particularly: Agrarhandel als Testfall für gerechte Welthandelsbedingungen. Gemeinsames Positionspapier der Deutschen Kommission Justitia et Pax, der Katholischen Landvolkbewegung u. der Katholischen Landjugendbewegung (Bonn 2005).

{13} Jens Martens im Interview mit terre des hommes: www.tdh.de/content/themen/weitere/entwicklungspolitik/millennium/interview_martens.htm

{14} Klasen (A. 7) 14.

{15} For a realization of the different aspects of justice in other fields of world trade, for example in the field lasting development, services or intellectual property rights see the study Welthandel im Dienst der Armen (A. 2) 23-42.

{16} Zivilgesellschaft auf dem Prüfstand. Argumente - Modelle - Anwendungsfelder, edited by J. Inthorn and others (Stuttgart 2005), there especially M. Kiefer, Die Gretchenfrage neu gestellt - Katholische Kirche u. Zivilgesellschaft, 131-139.

{17} See J. Habermas, Zwischen Naturalismus u. Religion. Philosophische Aufsätze (Frankfurt 2005); M. Reder, Religion in der politischen Philosophie. Diskursethische u. systemtheoretische Deutungen von Religion u. einige Schlußfolgerungen für das Verhältnis von Unternehmensethik u. Religion, in: Unternehmensethik im Spannungsfeld der Kulturen und Religionen, edited by J. Wallacher, M. Reder and T. Karcher (Stuttgart 2006) 66-87.

{18} see www.cidse.org

{*} The World Trade Organization (WTO) plays an important role in the reduction of tariffs and commercial obstacles. MICHAEL REDER, scientific co-worker at the Institut für Gesellschaftspolitik of the College for Philosophy in Munich, considers several ethical and political questions of world trade and refers to the role of the church in the reform of world trade.