Speaking at a conference on Trade and Decent Work in Brussels, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has said that he will seek a ‘step change’ in the way in which the EU’s new bilateral trade deals address issues of labour standards.
He cited the new agreements with ASEAN, India and South Korea for which the EU will request negotiating mandates from the Council and argued that, rather than seeking a sanctions-based approach, the EU would look to establish dialogues on labour conditions and could offer additional concessions in bilateral deals linked to International Labour Organization (ILO) or environmental standards.
He also called on European Member States to back the Commission’s recommendation that the EU withdraws trade privileges from Belarus in response to flouted labour standards. He said, “The incentives have to be real. Where countries systematically flout Core Labour Standards, we need to be prepared to act. The Commission has recommended the withdrawal of generalised system of preferences (GSP) privileges from Belarus and I call on the Member States today to endorse that measure. In my view, this decision is a test case of our collective commitment to the promotion of workers rights as an integral part of our trade policy.”
Mr Mandelson also presented the results of two pilot studies undertaken by ILO and the EC in Uganda and the Philippines, designed to gain a deeper understanding of how trade agreements affect labour markets and the quality of employment, especially in poorer countries.
