"The dispute settlement mechanism, which came into being with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995, is one of the cornerstones of the Organisation.It gives all 149 Members of the WTO confidence that the agreements negotiated and agreed will be respected. It does not impose new obligations, but it does enforce those already agreed.The rationale behind the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO is to provide Members with a clear legal framework for solving disputes which may arise in the course of implementing WTO agreements. Clearly, agreed solutions between Members are the most desirable way of solving disputes. However, if this is not possible, Members can ask for panels and (possibly) appeal procedures where the WTO, by interpreting the rules, solves the dispute. If a Member does not comply with WTO recommendations on bringing its practice in line with WTO rules, then trade compensation or sanctions, for example in the form of duty increases or suspension of WTO obligations may follow.WTO Members, including the EU, are consistently making use of the mechanism. However, the EU never initiates a dispute settlement case before exhausting all other ways of finding solutions.The system has, so far, worked well to solve very important disputes and avoiding 'trade wars'. For this reason, the EU considers that, overall, the system is functioning well and has helped to ensure real market-opening. Moreover, it compares extremely well with other international dispute settlement systems in terms of speed and efficiency. By providing a multilateral forum for settling disputes, the mechanism guards weaker Members against unilateral action by the strongest."(in Europa)
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"The dispute settlement mechanism, which came into being with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995, is one of the cornerstones of the Organisation.It gives all 149 Members of the WTO confidence that the agreements negotiated and agreed will be respected. It does not impose new obligations, but it does enforce those already agreed.The rationale behind the Dispute Settlement Understanding of the WTO is to provide Members with a clear legal framework for solving disputes which may arise in the course of implementing WTO agreements. Clearly, agreed solutions between Members are the most desirable way of solving disputes. However, if this is not possible, Members can ask for panels and (possibly) appeal procedures where the WTO, by interpreting the rules, solves the dispute. If a Member does not comply with WTO recommendations on bringing its practice in line with WTO rules, then trade compensation or sanctions, for example in the form of duty increases or suspension of WTO obligations may follow.WTO Members, including the EU, are consistently making use of the mechanism. However, the EU never initiates a dispute settlement case before exhausting all other ways of finding solutions.The system has, so far, worked well to solve very important disputes and avoiding 'trade wars'. For this reason, the EU considers that, overall, the system is functioning well and has helped to ensure real market-opening. Moreover, it compares extremely well with other international dispute settlement systems in terms of speed and efficiency. By providing a multilateral forum for settling disputes, the mechanism guards weaker Members against unilateral action by the strongest."(in Europa)