One of the principal achievements of the GATT Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (1986-1994), which resulted in the establishment of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"), was the creation of a ground-breaking system for the resolution of trade disputes between WTO Members. This...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system, established in 1995, is the youngest of the systems of international adjudication discussed in this book. In spite of its successful functioning over the past 25 years, it is today, however, also a system in crisis, due to the demise...

In 2020, the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS Agreement") marked its 25th anniversary. There was, however, little reason for celebration. The COVID-19 pandemic had plunged the world economy in an unprecedented crisis. In April 2020, the IMF predicted...

Economic nationalism and anti-globalist unilateralism have been on the rise in recent years. The most obvious and consequential examples of this trend are the trade policy measures taken by the United States which undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system. Among these measures, one...

Battery management systems (BMS) are a key element in electric vehicle energy storage systems. The BMS performs several functions concerning to the battery system, its key task being balancing the battery cells. Battery cell unbalancing hampers electric vehicles’ performance, with differing...

The increased activity in the field of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) have led to an increase in standardization work, performed by both world-wide organizations like the IEC or the ISO, as by regional and national bodies such as CEN, CENELEC, SAE or JEVA....

PHEVs and BEVs make use of battery cells optimized for high energy rather than for high power. This means that the power abilities of these batteries are limited. In order to enhance their performance, a hybrid Rechargeable Energy Storage System (RESS) architecture can be used combining...