The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Social Dimension of International Trade

Abstract

The Chapter explores to what extent a legally binding EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is capable of influencing how the European Union balances demands of social rights with those of international trade, most notably within the World Trade Organisation. The author analyses the approach developed by the European Union in relation to core labour standards in order to assess whether the provisions of the Charter effectively impose on the EU institutions new specific obligations vis-à-vis third countries.