La protection des milieux marins dans les accords de commerce : de la coexistence des valeurs à l’intégration dans les accords de nouvelle génération

The consideration of environmental policies in trade agreements has undergone an interesting evolution from the GATT to the WTO. However, particular emphasis should be placed on the recent trend towards the integration of environmental protection obligations into new generation trade agreements, where environmental objectives have been included, not as an exception to free trade obligations, nor as a simple recognition of the ?right to protection? of States, but as a common obligation. The protection of marine environments is part of this current of evolution. To highlight this change in approach to international regulation ? from a sectoral approach to a global approach ? the analysis will be carried out in two stages. The first consists in studying the provisions relating to the environment in the GATT and the WTO agreements which were echoed in several regional trade agreements of the same period, and in particular the interpretation of these provisions by the settlement bodies of GATT/WTO dispute in cases related to the protection of the marine environment, in order to highlight the priority of commercial considerations over those of environmental protection, despite certain evolutionary approach to interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body .In the second stage, the study of the provisions relating to the protection of the marine environment in certain recent RTAs ? CPTPP, USCMA, CETA, EVFTA ? shows a progressive approach in favor of the environment, nuanced by a brief critical look at the RCEP.