Labour rights and provisions in EU and UK trade policy

Research at Queen Mary University on the role of labour rights and provisions in international trade agreements has impacted debate and policy on the European Union’s approach to trade and sustainable development in its Free Trade Agreements.

 

Issue

Since 2011, the EU has used a framework of Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters in all its Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as part of its commitment to including what it calls “European values” and enhanced worker rights. TSD chapters are vital to current and future EU trade policy and are critical to ensure economic growth goes hand in hand with better environmental standards and working conditions.

 

Approach

An inter-disciplinary team of researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Warwick undertook research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council on the project “Working Beyond the Border: European Union Trade Agreements and International Labour Standards” (WBB). The project investigated the negotiation, implementation and effectiveness of the EU’s framework for labour provisions in its FTAs.

 

Impact

The research shaped the European Commission’s Trade and Sustainable Development reform agenda and informed critical debate in the European Parliament. For example, in 2017 the team organised a stakeholder meeting in Brussels attended by European Commission officials, which led to a co-authored response paper to the Commission’s consultation on TSD reform.

The research also contributed to the reform of EU trade policy through the creation of a civil society network. The team established Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) for Change, a civil society/academic group with members of trade agreement labour monitoring mechanisms. The research influenced the DAGs for Change discussions and informed its response to the European Commission’s July 2017 reform consultation.

The research informed a major report by the ILO, who set labour standards worldwide. The team co-organised a workshop with the ILO on approaches to assessing the effectiveness of labour provisions in trade and investment agreements. Smith also contributed to an ILO handbook, developing ILO training materials.

In 2018, Smith joined the UK’s Department for International Trade’s new Trade and Sustainability Expert Advisory Group, the key advisory body to government on post-Brexit trade union and sustainability issues. Based on the research, a common position on trade and sustainability was drafted, which was later adopted to form the principles of sustainability in future UK trade policy.

 

More information

• Read the full impact case study in the REF21 database

• Protecting the rights of workers under EU free trade agreements - Queen Mary University of London

Institution: Queen Mary University of London

Researchers: Professor Adrian Smith