지방자치단체 녹색성장지원사업에의 WTO 보조금협정 적용가능성 연구 - ‘지역특정성’등 특정성 요건을 중심으로 -

Since the ground-breaking announcement of the ‘Low Carbon, Green Growth’ Strategy in 2008, not only Korea’s central government but a number of local governments have made strenuous efforts in pursuing green development and effective adaptation to climate change. This paper aims, firstly, to identify the current status of local governments’ financial, technical, or administrative support for green industries within their jurisdiction; and secondly, to examine the possibility of such local measures being challenged before the WTO adjudicating bodies for the possible breaches of WTO Subsidies Agreement (“ASCM”). In so doing, this author emphatically focuses on the specificity requirement under Article 2.1 and 2.2 of the ASCM. It is because, without the specificity requirement being met, these measures cannot be regulated under the ASCM in the first instance. Lastly, this paper explains the importance of providing objective and neutral criteria for the eligibility of such subsidies, and further makes legal suggestions for local governments to take into account in order to avoid satisfying the specificity requirement.