WRITTEN QUESTION E-1786/96 by Johanna Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission (3 July 1996)

Subject: WTO Conference of Ministers and working conditions

The European Commission is due to take part in the WTO Conference of Ministers towards the end of this year in Singapore.

1. Does the Commission consider that the working conditions of, for example, women and children in developing countries should be raised at that conference?

2. Does the Commission intend during this conference to discuss its future policy within the framework of the Generalized Preferences Scheme on special preferential treatment for imports in relation to working conditions in developing countries, and in particular those of children and women?

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (16 September 1996)

1. The Commission has already proposed, in its communication on market access, ((COM(96) 53. )) that the Council adopt a progressive stance based on a conception of basic labour rights - encompassing inter alia the rights of women and children - that does not detract from the right of the developing countries to draw on the comparative advantage of an abundance of cheap labour.

With this in mind, it has proposed that the WTO, at its conference in Singapore, set up a working party to study the issue. This proposal has already been discussed by the special committee set up by the Council under Article 113 of the Treaty, which concluded that the option of tackling the issue in the WTO was worth exploring. The Council took note of this conclusion on 13 May.

The Commission has also sent the Council and Parliament a communication on the connection between trade and internationally recognized welfare standards, the main aim of which is to promote certain basic, universal standards with a relevance to human rights, including the abolition of forced labour, slavery and the exploitation of children, trade union freedom, the right to collective bargaining and freedom from discrimination in employment.

2. Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1256/96 of 20 June 1996 provides that:

'As from 1 January 1998 special incentive arrangements in the form of additional preferences may be granted to beneficiary countries covered by the scheme which request such arrangements in writing and provide proof that they have adopted and actually apply domestic legal provisions incorporating the substance of the standards laid down in International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions Nos 87 and 98 concerning the application of the principles of the right to organize and to bargain collectively and ILO Convention No 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment.' ((OJ L 160, 29.6.1996. ))

Since the arrangements are unilateral, the content of the Community system of generalized preferences can, strictly speaking, be discussed or negotiated in the WTO only if one of its provisions is contested under the 1979 enabling clause authorizing the establishment of the system of generalized preferences, which has not so far been the case. However, the system of generalized preferences may well be cited in the course of the discussions to support, illustrate or amplify Community positions in a particular field.

Under the Regulation, the Commission will be reporting to the Council on the results of studies carried out in international trade forums on the relationship between trade and labour rights for the purposes of drafting the implementing arrangements.