The Fifth Fundamental Labour Right in EU Free Trade Agreements

Abstract This article examines the status of the right to a safe and healthy working environment (OHS) in European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) by employing a comparative approach. It analyses OHS in EU FTAs using diachronic and synchronic methods and compares the EU’s stance with the positions of the United States and Canada. The article determines that transnational labour governance relating to OHS is increasingly being streamlined as the EU has started linking trade concessions to binding OHS obligations. The convergence of the substantive coverage of labour obligations in FTAs has to date remained understudied. The European Commission has stressed that the described shift is due to the recognition of OHS as the fifth fundamental labour right in 2022. However, this article argues that there are also other motivations. The EU already started negotiating binding OHS obligations following the negotiation of the FTA with Canada (2014) and after the adoption of the ‘Trade for All’ strategy (2015) under pressure from advocacy networks. Such networks—who have long considered OHS as the next frontier in transnational labour governance—found an ally in EU-based workers experiencing wage erosion against the backdrop of retreating multilateralism and increased trade in global value chains.