What does the Director-General of the WTO do?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the process of selecting a Director General (DG) for the next four years. The WTO DG is responsible for running the WTO's 600 person secretariat in Geneva. The DG is not a decision maker with respect to the details of trade agreements; the WTO members take the member-driven nature of the organization seriously. But the DG can play an important role in the negotiations. The size of the role depends on the DG's initiative and character.
During his speech to the World Trade Organization's General Council on January 26, WTO Director-General (DG) candidate Pascal Lamy described how he saw the role of the WTO DG:
"...I think that the role of the DG is threefold: he is a manager; he is an advocate; and he is a honest-broker...
Why a manager? Because he is responsible for the activities of the Secretariat, for the conduct of WTO operations, for the management of WTO personnel. He must fix objectives, and evaluate performance. And because he is given this job, he is himself responsible for his own performance before the members who vote the budget. He must manage, and in order to manage, he must motivate, lead, and reform if necessary, notably in the direction of transparency... Why an advocate? Because the DG is spokesman for the organization and the goals defined by the members of the organization. In Geneva and in national capitals, where he must be capable of opening doors. In the media. In debate, notably with those who criticise us, sometimes fairly, but also with those who have even more fundamental objections. To do so, the DG must be able to speak several languages. The language of our WTO agreements, in which we are of course all masters of its sometimes obscure (at least for the non-initiated) complexities. But also the simple language of international public opinion. A Director General must convince. And to do that, he must be convinced. For example, on the priority of multilateralism over bilateral agreements, whatever their virtues... Why an honest broker? Because the members of the organization have different positions, sometimes conflictual, and these differences are if anything growing as our membership grows. The solution remains in the art of compromise between sovereign nations. The DG must therefore be able to facilitate, he must be considered by the members as an objective interlocutor, an intermediary in whom everybody has confidence, capable of reducing disagreement, mistrust, and prejudice. He must be ready to make a contribution as a catalyst in this peculiar chemistry set of consensus, in full co-operation with those to whom you have conferred responsibilities as chairmen of different councils and committees. He must be both engineer and mechanic, with the WTO agreements as his technical manual. He must be ready to stand aside when necessary. And to be available when necessary. The sheer complexity and necessity of this role is not, I fully recognise, precisely defined by the texts which govern this organization. The DG of the WTO has no �powers� of this kind. Because the organization remains member driven, he has no right to such a role, he must earn it. And in what currency is this role earned? In trust. The DG must construct a trust-fund with a revenue stream based on respect for his role. Not to save it. But to spend it, in the service of the organization."
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