International trade and protection of workers’ rights: in pursuit of a sustainable globalization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12795/e-RIPS.2021.i02.17Keywords:
Social clauses, International trade, WTO, ILO, FTAsAbstract
The liberalization of international trade can foster economic growth and employment opportunities both in developing countries and in advanced economies. However, States have not all benefited equally from trade liberalization and, in general, from international economic relations globalization. As a consequence, these phenomena and the liberalist trade agreements that have favoured them continue to be highly disputed. In this context, one of the most debated aspects is the lack of an adequate protection of workers' rights under these agreements. Departing from the current lack of specific rules in the multilateral trade legal framework, the author analyzes the so-called “social clauses” included in the new generation bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs), with a special focus on the EU FTAs. From this analysis emerges that these clauses do not still guarantee an adequate protection to workers and therefore they should be modified.
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Accepted 2021-11-22
Published 2021-12-31
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