CEPS Researchers Anabela Correia de Brito and Jacques Pelkmans have co-authored a study with Céline Kauffmann, published by the OECD as OECD Regulatory Policy Working Paper No 2. The study takes stock of the institutional setting, operational modalities, strengths and weaknesses of various forms of mutual recognition when used in different sector and country contexts. It aims to build a greater understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of one of the 11 mechanisms of international regulatory cooperation identified by the OECD Regulatory Policy Committee in OECD (2013), “International Regulatory Cooperation: Addressing Global Challenges”. The paper relies on an empirical stocktaking of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) among selected OECD countries, the systematic review of mutual recognition clauses in trade agreements, case studies of the specific experience of the EU internal market, the trans-Tasman arrangement, and the MRA between the US and the EU of 1998, and an extensive review of the literature.

Anabela Correia de Brito and Jacques Pelkmans are researchers at CEPS and Céline Kauffmann is a researcher at the OECD in Paris.