The master thesis studies the links between international trade and labour rights by analysing characteristics of labour provisions in free trade agreements and unilateral trade preferences of the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.). The liberalisation of international trade brings both positive and negative impacts, while a more holistic policy approach is needed to mitigate these adverse consequences. The integration of labour rights in free trade agreements is a relatively new phenomenon. However, a significant increase of labour provisions in trade agreements can be observed in the last two decades, reaching a third of all free trade agreements in place today. The EU and the U.S. are the most important trade actors and systematically include labour provisions in their trade instruments going beyond the World Trade Organisation mandate. To begin with in this thesis, an overview of development of free trade and the trend of concluding free trade agreements with labour provisions is discussed. This is followed by a more detailed study of international labour standards, particularly in the framework of the International Labour Organisation. Next, a comparative analysis about the labour provisions the EU and the U.S. generalised systems of preferences and free trade agreements is carried out. Their enforcement and implementation in practice are studied in more detail using the cases of the Philippines and Guatemala. Finally, a set of policy recommendations is proposed to contribute to the further development and better enforcement of labour provisions through trade instruments.
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