WRITTEN QUESTION E-1501/00

by Ilka Schröder (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(12 May 2000)

Subject: Social standards and workers' rights environmental clauses in world trade

The European Union has made it one of its goals to have social standards in world trade enshrined, for example in the WTO Rules.

1. Why did the European Commission fail to include social standards such as workers' right in the EU-Mexico trade agreement?

2. Will social standards and environmental clauses be entrenched in future bi- and multilateral agreements? If so, will this apply to the projected EU-Mercosur agreement? If not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(29 June 2000)

In Seattle it was confirmed that a World Trade Organisation (WTO) working party for trade and labour is not a feasible proposition. Developing countries' opposition to this idea is as firm as ever and the WTO can only take decisions of this kind if there is consensus. The most fruitful approach is based on a process of dialogue, not a new rule-setting body. An important lesson from Seattle is that the scope of the dialogue should not be limited to the issue of core labour standards, but should also encompass social development concerns.

The Community also proposed in Seattle a strong trade and environment component and, despite the failure of Seattle, believes that such trade and environment objectives remain valid. This relates in particular to the need to clarify the relationship between trade rules and multilateral environment agreements, the precautionary principle and labelling schemes.

1. As regards the Community-Mexico trade agreement, the Commission would like to point out that this is part of a broader framework and based on the Community-Mexico economic partnership, political co-ordination and co-operation agreement. Co-operation in social matters is part of this overall agreement. The Community deemed it more appropriate to address social questions in the context of the overall agreement, in order to emphasise that our approach is based on dialogue and co-operation. Inclusion in the trade agreement might have been misinterpreted as implying sanctions, which is not the Community's approach.

2. As far as Mercosur is concerned, the Community also attaches great importance to social and environmental matters in the overall context of sustainable development. The negotiations with Mercosur aim at an interregional association agreement encompassing broad relations, notably a political dialogue, trade matters, and co-operation. As regards the latter, the negotiations include economic co-operation, and social and cultural co-operation which includes many topics related to social affairs, including the respect of the International Labour Organisation core conventions. The Commission is also preparing a project in social matters in the context of the 1995 agreement. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Commission is currently considering conducting a sustainability impact assessment of the trade agreement under negotiation along the lines of that initiated before Seattle for the new round. The objective would be to identify linkages between trade, environment and development policies and, on this basis, to define an appropriate policy package for the negotiations to make sure the trade agreement will contribute to the objective of sustainable development.