Council Decision (EU) 2025/1121 of 27 May 2025 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand as regards amendments to that Agreement concerning fundamental principles and rights at work
Date: 2025-05-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: International Labour Organisation, New Zealand, free-trade agreement, joint committee (EU), labour law, revision of an agreement, trade agreement (EU), working environment




L_202501121EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/1121


3.6.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/1121
         
of 27 May 2025
         
on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the Trade Committee established by the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand as regards amendments to that Agreement concerning fundamental principles and rights at work


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207(4), first subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:







(1)


The Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (‘the Agreement’) (1) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision (EU) 2024/244 (2) and entered into force on 1 May 2024.












(2)


Pursuant to Article 24.2(2), point (i), of the Agreement, the Trade Committee established by Article 24.1(1) of the Agreement is able to adopt decisions to amend the Agreement. Pursuant to Article 24.3, point (j), of the Agreement, the Trade Committee is able to adopt decisions to amend Article 19.3(3) and (4) of the Agreement, which concern multilateral labour standards and agreements.












(3)


Pursuant to Article 19.3(4) of the Agreement, the Trade Committee is able to adopt, no later than at its first meeting, a decision to amend Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement to reflect the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the framework of fundamental principles and rights at work of the International Labour Organization (ILO).












(4)


The Trade Committee, during its first meeting, is to adopt a decision to amend Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement in order to add a safe and healthy working environment to the list of fundamental principles and rights at work in that Article in line with Resolution I (3) adopted on 10 June 2022 by the 110th International Labour Conference. The reference to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement should also be updated in order to align it with the most recent amendment to that Declaration.












(5)


Following the amendment to be made to Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement, the statement in the footnote to Article 19.3(5) that all Member States have ratified the fundamental conventions of the ILO will become obsolete. It is therefore appropriate to delete that footnote.












(6)


It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the Trade Committee, as the decision of the Trade Committee as regards amendments to the Agreement concerning fundamental principles and rights at work will be binding on the Union.












(7)


The position of the Union within the Trade Committee should therefore be to support the adoption of the attached draft decision of the Trade Committee,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the first meeting of the Trade Committee established by Article 24.1(1) of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand shall be based on the draft Decision of the Trade Committee attached to this Decision.


Article 2
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.




Done at Brussels, 27 May 2025.


For the Council


The President

A. SZŁAPKA
            





(1)  
            OJ L, 2024/866, 25.3.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2024/866/oj.

(2)  Council Decision (EU) 2024/244 of 27 November 2023 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (OJ L, 2024/244, 28.2.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/244/oj).

(3)  Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work (ILC.110/Resolution I) https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/%40ed_norm/%40relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_848632.pdf.





DRAFT
DECISION No …/2025 OF THE TRADE COMMITTEE
of …
amending Article 19.3(3) and (5) of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand concerning amendment to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work


THE TRADE COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (the ‘Agreement’) (1), and in particular Article 19.3(4) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


The 110th International Labour Conference adopted on 10 June 2022 Resolution I on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.












(2)


Article 19.3(4) of the Agreement provides that the Trade Committee may, no later than at its first meeting, adopt a decision to amend Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement to reflect the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the fundamental principles and rights at work in accordance with Resolution I of the 110th International Labour Conference in June 2022.












(3)


Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement should therefore be amended by adding a safe and healthy working environment to the list of fundamental principles and rights at work. In addition, the reference to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement should be updated in order to align it with the most recent amendment to that Declaration.












(4)


Following the amendment to Article 19.3(3) of the Agreement, the statement in the footnote to Article 19.3(5) of the Agreement that all Member States have ratified the fundamental conventions of the ILO will become obsolete. It is therefore appropriate to delete that footnote,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
Article 19.3(3) and (5) of the Agreement are amended as set out in the Annex to this Decision.


Article 2
The amendments set out in the Annex to this Decision shall enter into force on the first day of the sixth month following the month during which the Parties exchange written notifications certifying that they have completed their respective applicable legal requirements and procedures for entry into force of the amendments.
This Decision is drawn up in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish languages, each text being equally authentic.




Done at Brussels and Wellington, …


For the Trade Committee


The Co-Chairs






(1)  
            OJ L, 2024/866, 25.3.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/agree_internation/2024/866/oj.



ANNEX
Article 19.3 of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand (the ‘Agreement’) is amended as follows:






(1)


paragraph 3 is amended as follows:






(a)


the introductory wording is replaced by the following:

                                       ‘In accordance with the ILO Constitution and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work adopted at Geneva on 18 June 1998 by the International Labour Conference at its 86th Session and its Follow-up, as amended at its 110th Session in 2022, each Party shall respect, promote and realise the principles concerning the fundamental rights at work which are the subject of the fundamental conventions of the ILO, namely:’;










(b)


in point (c), after the words ‘the effective abolition of child labour;’, the word ‘and’ is deleted;










(c)


in point (d), after the words ‘the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation’, the full stop is deleted and the following is added:

                                       ‘; and’;










(d)


the following point is added:






‘(e)


a safe and healthy working environment’;


















(2)


in paragraph 5, footnote 1 (‘The Parties note that all Member States have ratified the fundamental conventions of the ILO.’) is deleted.








ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/1121/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)