After almost fifty years since the provisional application of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT-47) and almost twenty-five years since the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO-95), the new protectionist policies of States are jeopardising the legal security of international trade. 

In the era of digital trade, the resurgence of measures that restrict import and export operations to protect national sectors is leading to the proliferation of trade barriers (e.g. tariff and non-tariff barriers) and the adoption of economic coercion measures, causing growing legal uncertainty for international market operators. Through these practices, final consumers are ultimately harmed, as access to products and services is made more difficult and expensive, if not impossible.

In this context, going beyond the political constraints, the legal origins of the system's crisis and the challenges posed by today's digital trade is essential, both for States and international economic integration organisations, in particular the EU, and for traders themselves.