La clausola sociale nei trattati di libero scambio di nuova generazione dell'Unione Europea

According to the United Nations 2030 Agenda, the “new generation” free trade areas (FTAs) agreements concluded by the European Union in the last decade devote a full chapter to the subject of sustainable development. Within them, commercial and investment exigences are combined with the protection of major labour rights, which are usually meant as an essential element of economic sustainability. The purpose of this article is to determine whether the FTAs regime on labour rights is effective and innovative in comparison to the existing universal and regional instruments. Four main aspects will be investigated in this regard: the substantive obligations to promote and protect labour rights provided by the new FTAs, the nature of the dispute settlement system codified by sustainable development chapters, the peculiar instruments created to encourage participation of civil society and, finally, the theoretical and practical possibility to apply economic sanctions in case of violations of labour rights.