MEGA-REGIONALS AND LABOUR PROTECTION INNOVATIVE RULE-MAKING OR STICKING TO THE BOILERPLATE? B. Melo Araujo – Queen’s University Belfast

Mega-Regionals TTIP, TPP, RCEP … Large-scale agreements in terms of markets covered Focused on ‘21st century trade issues’ Aim to define new rules of the road (and contest the centrality of the WTO as a rule-making venue

Labour Protection in FTAs Part of long running attempts to promote rules and disciplines that were rejected at the WTO level (mostly be developing country members) Mega-regionals such as TTIP and TPP identified as potential “game changers” in trade-labour linkage. Is this claim verified in practice?

Past EU and US FTA Practice Specifically designated chapters focused on labour protection (US: Labour Chapters; EU: Sustainable Development Chapters) Promotion of international labour norms (ILO core labour standards) – some deviations Rules relating to level of domestic labour protection (e.g., non-waiver, non-derogation and non-lowering clauses) Enforcement (clear distinguishing feature between EU and US approach)

TPP and TTIP Mostly sticking to template – no significant attempt to radically transform EU and US approach to labour protection provisions in FTAs Mega-regionals intended to consolidate and disseminating already existing templates for labour protection provisions in EU and US FTAs.

Concluding remarks What happen next? EU: Labour protection provisions viewed as “shared competence” by AG Sharpston (opinion 2/15). If conformed by Court of Justice, will EU persist with such provisions? US: Will current administration adopt a more aggressively protectionist stance with respect labour related obligations in US FTAs? Brexit: Opportunity for UK to assess and adopt best FTA practices when crafting its own FTAs