Fundamental Social Rights, Market Regulation and EU External Action

Abstract

This article examines fundamental social rights in the era of globalization, focusing on the EU's strategy to promote respect for social rights in its external actions. A new feature of the Lisbon Treaty is the 'horizontal social clause' (Article 9 TFEU), stipulating that EU policies must take social requirements into account to ensure consistency between various policies and social objectives. This clause will be explored also in its external dimension, pursuant to Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty. Finally, other social provisions of EU external action will be dealt with, including the promotion of International Labour Organization (ILO) labour standards in free trade agreements (such as the CARIFORUM), Corporate Social Responsibility and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), in particular the GSP Plus scheme.

Prison labour, customs preference schemes and decent work: Critical analysis and outlook

“…But this progress, while limited, must be compared to the treatment reserved for the prison workforce in other circumstances. In this respect, the difficulty of taking working conditions into account when assess ing business rights before States during investment arbitration constitutes an obstacle (Perulli 2018;Treu 2017). Moreover, it should be recalled that the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) 12 has never established exclusions with regard to services provided from prisons, although there are numerous call centres within prison establishments, some of which are private, which are indisputably providing services.…”

“…Despite the constant and repeated refusal of Member States to include a social clause in the WTO system (Moreau 1996 andServais 1989;Compa 1993;Maupain 1996;Staelens 1997;Dubin 2003;Reis 2010;Duthu-Calvez 2010;Perulli 2014), which would have made it possible to sanction a Member for the violation of fundamental social rights, this principle nevertheless flourished at the margins, in the specific context of relations with developing countries. More precisely, it was demanded by certain Member States of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), later the WTO, that wished to use the margin for manoeuvre offered to them by establishing general preference schemes.…”

Travail des détenus, systèmes de préférences douanières et travail décent: analyse critique et perspectives

“…Malgré le refus, constant et répété, des États membres d'inclure une clause sociale dans le système de l'OMC (Moreau, 1996(Moreau, et 2002Servais, 1989;Compa, 1993;Maupain, 1996;Staelens, 1997;Dubin, 2003;Reis, 2010;Duthu-Calvez, 2010;Perulli, 2014), laquelle permettrait de sanctionner un membre pour la violation de droits sociaux fondamentaux, ce principe a tout de même éclos à la marge, dans le contexte particulier des relations avec les pays en développement. Plus exactement, il a été revendiqué par certains des pays membres du GATT (Accord général sur les tarifs douaniers et le commerce), puis de l'OMC, qui ont souhaité faire usage de la marge de manoeuvre qui leur était offerte en mettant sur pied des systèmes généralisés de préférences.…”

Trabajo penitenciario, sistemas de preferencias aduaneras y trabajo decente: análisis crítico y perspectivas

“…Pese a la negativa constante y reiterada de los Estados Miembros de la OMC a incluir en el sistema multilateral de comercio una cláusula social (Moreau 1996(Moreau y 2002Servais 1989;Compa 1993;Maupain 1996;Staelens 1997;Dubin 2003;Reis 2010;Duthu-Calvez 2010;Perulli 2014), instrumento que permitiría sancionar a un Miembro por la vulneración de los derechos fundamentales del trabajo, el principio subyacente acabó aflorando de manera tangencial en el contexto de las relaciones con los países en desarrollo. Más exactamente, ese principio se propuso por iniciativa de algunos de los países Miembros del GATT (Acuerdo General sobre Aranceles Aduaneros y Comercio), y luego de la OMC, con el fin de aprovechar el margen de maniobra que venía dado por la instauración de sistemas generalizados de preferencias.…”