In October 2015, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Berlin to voice their concerns about the proposed free trade agreements between the EU and Canada (CETA) and the EU and the United States (TTIP). It was not the first time that international economic agreements or institutions were at the centre of public protests. International economic law has always been a politically and legally contested field. Volume 7 of the European Yearbook of International Law addresses these contestations and focuses its main section on critical perspectives of international economic law. The editors of the yearbook invited critical scholars to voice their concerns of the main features and principles of international economic law as it stands today and outline their critical analyses of the various subfields of the discipline. In order to stimulate debate and to challenge the contestations, we asked other colleagues to comment on these critical perspectives. In most cases, especially in the most fiercely debated areas, the commentators were critical of the critics. Some chose to directly react to the claims of the main chapters, others opted for a broader defence of the system and rejected the critics’ assertions more generally. Yet, others added further—sometimes also critical—perspectives and dimensions without directly challenging the claims of the first author. The result is a unique collection of critical essays accompanied by alternative and competing views on some of the most fundamental topics of international economic law. We hope that this collection will stimulate further debate and critical research and will serve as a first source of critical essays on international economic law for newcomers and old participants of the debates alike.