Social clauses in trade agreements for sustainable development

Abstract

Nowadays the topic of sustainable development is covering every aspect of our lives and influencing our choices. In a world where everything is connected , it is extremely difficult to have control of this huge and unpredictable network of phenomena. Sustainability is perceived, in a generic definition, as acting in the respect for the others. In this moment of the history, sustainability must be considered as essential for development: for this reason, it is declined in three main pillars strictly interconnected, concerning the economy, the society and the environment. With the aim of mediating regulation of the behaviour among different territories, trade agreements represent not only a contract based on commercial interests, but also a pact of good practice between the parties. This involves the acceptance and defence of fundamental rights in order to ensure a dignified existence for the populations involved. To make it possible, in the last decades trade agreements started to include the social clauses, with the specific intention of define minimum standards for labour treatment as a mandatory condition to pursue a commercial and economic relation in ceteris paribus. Europe represents a virtuous example of how the approach to the issue of development and sustainability has evolved throughout the years, outlining a clear difference in the content of the treaties, their judicialization and the governance. In 2013 Europe started the negotiation with the United States of America with the purpose of creating a free trade area. This is one of the most debated and complicated negotiations, and its great significance is represented by the fact that a successful result would lead the creation of the biggest and most powerful free trade area of the world, with all the pros and cons of this achievement. After years of unsatisfactory and vain discussion about a compromise, in July 2018 negotiations started again between Europe and Trump. Social clauses, environment and fair labour conditions are some of the topics included in the discussion paper and submitted to the parties. As a matter of fact, the analysis of the importance of social clauses and the role they have to ensure a development respectful and advantageous for all shows how the world where we live has lost the power defined by the borders. Globalization has changed the game rules, and the challenge we have to face is to find a way to play all with the same fair condition, with the same possibility to win.