More than four years
after the European Union (EU)-Korea panel ruling, this article explores the
meaning of the case for the design and follow-up of sustainability clauses in
EU trade agreements. It analyses the case in the perspective of the recent
history of EU Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) policy. It is argued that
the application of a ‘developmental’ approach to sustainability provisions in
EU trade agreements constitutes the main innovation brought by the EU-Korea
panel ruling. This ‘developmental’ approach entails that TSD provisions –
social and environmental clauses – enable the re-embedding of the market into a
form of development that is more sustainable. The article will focus on the
labour component of TSD provisions.
The developmental
approach explored entails that social rules contained in EU trade agreements
are perceived as productive factors paving the way for sustainable growth and
competitiveness that is not solely based on cost factors. In doing so, the
panel ruling questions the thirty-year dominance of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) Singapore Ministerial Declaration (1996), which considered
the trade-labour nexus as two separate pillars.
By offering this new
paradigmatic approach, the panel ruling has paved the way for a normative
intertwining of trade and social issues. In the aftermath of the panel ruling,
the European Commission has swiftly built on the opportunities – and the limits
– provided by the ruling to strengthen its sustainability provisions,
essentially through the amendment of the compliance and ‘essential elements’
clauses. However, the evolution of TSD provisions continues to be
controversial. This article will outline options for future TSD provisions and
conclude that the structural evolution suggested by the developmental approach
promoted in the EU-Korea panel ruling should further strengthen the sustainable
policy space.