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EU in the world

19. Proposal: Defining standards within and outside the EU in trade and investment relations

Objective: We propose that the EU strengthen the ethical dimension of its trade and investment relations through:

  • 19.1) Preserving and reforming our multilateral rules-based international trade architecture, and partnership with like-minded democracies.

  • 19.2) Effective and proportionate EU legislation to ensure that decent work standards are fully applied along the global value chains, including EU production and supply processes and that goods which are imported comply with qualitative ethical standards, sustainable development, and human rights standards including workers' and trade union rights, offering certification for products abiding by this EU legislation and engage in an EU wide dialogue process that seeks to inform and educate on the environmental and ethical effects of policy changes in international trade.

  • 19.3) Restrictions on the import and sale of products from countries that allow forced and child lbour, a periodically updated blacklist of companies, and promoting consumer awareness on child labour through information made by official EU channels.

  • 19.4) Following up and enforcing Trade Sustainable Development chapters (TSD) in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA) including the possibility of a sanctions-based mechanism as a last resort.

  • 19.5) Reforming the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) to include strong conditionality provisions and effective and appropriate monitoring, reporting and dialogue processes in order to improve the impact GSP can have on trade, human rights and development in partner countries with trade preferences to be withdrawn in case of non-compliance.