EC Releases Report on Global Trade and Sustainable Development Policies
A new London School of Economics and Political Science report commissioned by the European Commission reviews the implementation and enforcement of environmental and labor provisions in free trade agreements in an effort to bolster the commission's Trade and Sustainable Development approach. The report, "Comparative Analysis of Trade and Sustainable Development Provisions in Free Trade Agreements," studied FTAs involving the EU, Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the U.S., showing a large variation of enforcement and implementation of TSD measures. The commission said the report found that cooperation is key for TSD implementation, even for countries that use trade sanctions for TSD enforcement.
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In talking about the environmental provisions, the study had this to say: "The inclusion of environmental provisions in free trade agreements has developed considerably and become increasingly widespread over recent decades. While the US and EU have historically had a pioneering role in extending environmental provisions, similar models are now included in agreements involving neither of them. The range of specific environmental issues has increased over time, with more recent agreements including references to climate change, genetic resources and renewable energy as well as topics that have been present since NAFTA (1994) such as biodiversity or illegal trade in endangered species."
“We are always working on making trade policy better," said EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. "This is why we are now reviewing whether we need to recalibrate our approach to sustainability in our trade and investment agreements. Today’s independent analysis, together with the contributions to our public consultation, gives us valuable input on what our stakeholders at home want, and what our partners around the world are actually doing on the ground. It shows that positive engagement can be most effective in bringing about positive and sustainable change. The study also demonstrates that TSD policy is dynamic and fast developing and should be tailored to specific contexts. We are now ready to take this forward to make trade policy better, stronger and more sustainable."