Sustainability, Social Rights and International Trade: The TTIP

Abstract

This article analyses the prospects opened up in the social field by the negotiation on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and United States (US), with reference to labour law and social sustainability. Trade integration between the two partners should lead to an inter-normative approach, incorporating Fundamental Social Rights into the Treaty. The author proposes the inclusion of a chapter dedicated to compliance with labour rights, containing a social clause inspired by Article 20 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in accordance with the negotiation directives. The social clause should include references to the ILO Core Labour Standards, individual and collective labour rights, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the regulation in a social perspective of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).