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50 J. World Trade 587 (2016)
The Protection of Labour Rights in Trade Agreements: The Case of the EU-Columbia Agreement

handle is hein.kluwer/jwt0050 and id is 611 raw text is: The Protection of Labour Rights in Trade Agreements: The Case of the EU-Colombia Agreement Axel MARx, Brecht LEIN & Nicohs BRANDO In response to the disappointing progress at the multilateral level, trading powers like the European Union (EU) have increasingly used their market access power as leverage to promote non-trade objectives with third countries. Through so-called 'Trade & Sustainable Development Chapters', the EU's new generation of regional and bilateral trade agreements include explicit provisions on labour rights promotion, Corporate Social Responsibility and environmental sustainability. While legal scholars have commented extensively on these provisions, little is known about their practical application. With regard to labour rights in particular, the International Labour Organization has noted the lack of empirical evidence on the effects of integrating labour rights provisions in trade agreements. Based on extensive desk research and a series of interviews in Brussels and Bogoti, the present article aims to bridge this gap by providing insights into how the practical application of labour provisions and monitoring mechanisms plays out in a particular country context. Our findings identify significant shortcomings in both the design and application of the current sustainability chapters, affecting not only their effectiveness but also the credibility of the EU as a normative actor as a whole. 1 INTRODUCTION The European Union's (EU's) guiding norms are enshrined in EU primary law. These fundamental values include the respect for human dignity, freedom and democracy, equality and the rule of law, human rights, the sustainable management of global natural resources and the commitment to preserving and improving the quality of the environment (TEU, Art. 2). Article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty subscribes to these values, identifying them as 'general provisions on the Union's external action'. As such, any aspect ofEU foreign policy, including trade, is required to consistently and coherently 'consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the principles of international law' (TEU, Art. 21, 2-b). Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, University of Leuven All authors contributed equally to the writing of this article. Dr Axel Marx (axel.marx@ggs.kuleuven. be) is Deputy Director of the KU Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and is main contact for this paper. Brecht Lein (brecht.lein@ggs.kuleuven.be) and Nicolis Brando (nicolas.brando@ggs. kuleuven.be) are Research Fellows and PhD candidates of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies. Marx, Axel, Lein, Brecht & Brando, Nicolis. 'The Protection of Labour Rights in Trade Agreements: The Case of the EU-Colombia Agreement'. Journal of world trade 50, no. 4 (2016): 587-610. 0 2016 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

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