Professor Greg Messenger
LLB(Hons), BCL, MPhil, DPhil
Expertise
Trade law and policy specialist. Particular focus on the practice of economic diplomacy to support public policy aims across the World Trade Organization, free trade agreements, and other trade instruments.
Current positions
Professor of Trade Law and Policy
University of Bristol Law School
Contact
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Biography
Greg joined Bristol Law School as an Associate Professor in 2022. He was previously Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Liverpool, and prior to that, Junior Research Fellow in Law at the Queen's College, Oxford. He holds an undergraduate degree in law (LLB) from the University of Edinburgh, and a masters (BCL) and doctorate (DPhil) from the University of Oxford.
Greg spent four years working on trade law and policy in the UK government: first in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as an AHRC-ESRC-FCO Knowledge Exchange Fellow (2018-2020) and then as a Trade Policy Specialist in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (2020-2022).
He works closely with policy partners. With Emily Jones (University of Oxford) he is the co-founder of the Trade & Public Policy (TaPP) Network, the UK's largest network of academic trade experts.
Research interests
I am a specialist in the law and policy of world trade, currently working on the practice of economic diplomacy as an undertheorized field of study in international law.
I examine the use of economic diplpomacy to pursue public policy objectives such as protecting the environment, supporting sustainable development, and improving public health (in the case of the latter, principally as joint-lead on an interdisciplinary three-year NIHR-funded project to examine the how governments can best present public health measures at the committees of the World Trade Organization).
As co-founder and Co-Director of the Trade & Public Policy (TaPP) Network, the largest multidisciplinary group of academic experts on UK trade policy, I work closely with policy practitioners to develop my research projects.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Navigating Trade Challenge at the World Trade Organization to Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases and Promote Better Health for All
Principal Investigator
Description
The UK government is considering a range of policies to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. These policies involve regulating the food, tobacco, and alcohol…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
01/07/2023 to 30/06/2026
Publications
Selected publications
03/06/2024Mitigating the Rise of Unilateralism
Journal of International Economic Law
Free Trade Agreements as Sites of Economic Diplomacy
World Trade Review
Commentaries on World Trade Law: Volume 2
Commentaries on World Trade Law: Volume 2
Recent publications
09/05/2026Reform of the World Trade Organization
The LSE Public Policy Review
The Value of Cooperative Provisions in Free Trade Agreements
Journal of International Economic Law
Free Trade Agreements as Sites of Economic Diplomacy
World Trade Review
Public Health and International Economic Law
Public Health and International Economic Law
The Legal Links between Free Trade Agreements and Multilateral Environmental Agreements
The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements