1. Seite 1 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Social and Environmental Standards in the World Trading System Unilateral Trade Measures and WTO Dispute Settlement Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards Conclusions Application of Social and Environmental Standards in Trade Negotiations

2. Seite 2 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Social and Environmental Standards in the World Trading System WTO: Obligatory dispute settlement, trade sanctions in case of non- compliance MEAs and ILO Agreements: Consensual resolution of disputes, no sanctions Attractiveness of WTO for dispute settlement for trade-and-subjects Result: Environment WTO cases on trade and environment have led to an environmentally friendly interpretation of WTO rules, Negotiations on trade and environment Result: Labour no cases on trade and labour issues no negotiations in WTO, sole responsibility of ILO WTO Singapore 1996, Seattle 1999, Doha 2001

3. Seite 3 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Unilateral Trade Measures and WTO Dispute Settlement Assumption: might an aggressive unilateralism on trade and labour also lead to a re-consideration of WTO rules? Enforcement of non-trade issues through WTO? Reasons to be skeptical: Legal issues: Sovereignty, extraterritorial limitation of GATT exceptions, GATT problem with non-product-related process and production methods (PPMs) Political issue: Unilateralism at the edge of WTO-compatibility requires unambiguous stance to comply with WTO-rulings

4. Seite 4 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards Strengthening of ILO/MEAs Bilateral negotiations Positive incentives

5. Seite 5 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards – Strenthening of ILO/MEAs Strengthening ILO Declaration on Fundamental Rights and Principles at Work, 1998 Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation, 2008 Yet: no binding dispute settlement mechanism, no sanctions Strengthening MEAs Basle Convention, Montreal Protocol, Stockholm Convention, Rotterdam Convention, Biosafety Convention No WTO-like international organisation for the environment, no binding dispute settlement mechanism

6. Seite 6 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards – GSP, GSP+, EBA GSP System of EU GSP + (16 countries covering 6336 products) EBA initiative

7. Seite 7 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards – Bilateral Agreements I FTAs, partnership or cooperation agreements Contractual obligation with respect to sustainable development, in particular the respect of social and environmental standards Latest example: FTA EU – Korea: No harmonisation of standards, regulatory autonomy, high environmental and social protection Respect of core labour standards Effective implementation of ILO Conventions and MEAs including UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol

8. Seite 8 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Measures to Address Social and Environmental Standards – Bilateral Agreements II No dispute settlement but: Transparency and cooperation Procedural commitment: Committee on sustainable development Creation of advisory groups Panel - non binding panel report Result: soft pressure, consultation and transparency, naming and shaming, publicity to encourage enforcement

9. Seite 9 14. Januar 2010 Reinhard Quick Conclusions 1. Better global governance through more effective ILO and MEAs (or a WEO ?) 2. Insistence of EU on social and environmental standards in bilateral agreements has not (yet) led to disadvantages for EU with respect to third countries 3. Sanctions are not the right approach to enforce core labour standards 4. Reconsideration of GSP 5. From bilateralism to multilateralism