‘Essential Elements’ Clauses in EU Trade Agreements Making Trade Work in a Way that Helps Human Rights?
Abstract
This article critically examines the EU policy of including ‘essential elements’ clauses in trade agreements as the principal avenue for the realization of the trade-human rights nexus required by the EU’s treaty obligation to use its external relations for the promotion of its core values. After evaluating the anatomy of such clauses, the article sets out to analyze the criticism which they have generated regarding (i) the fact that such clauses are not contained in all EU trade agreements, (ii) their drafting and scope, and (iii) their monitoring and enforcement. The article then concludes with an assessment of the effectiveness and legitimacy of this policy, and of the way it impacts the credibility of the EU’s normative external relations agenda.
Received: 17 April 2015
Accepted: 11 June 2015
Published online: 15 April 2016
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