Future of EU’s trade policy and non-trade objectives
Non-trade issues such as labour standards, political and civil rights and environment protection have become important objectives in the design and implementation of the European Union’s (EU) trade policy. Almost two thirds of the EU trade agreements currently in force feature provisions on human rights and about one third of them covers labour issues. About two thirds also mention the environment, like the recent trade agreement with Japan which includes a novel provision on the implementation of the Paris climate agreement.