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MEPs say the launch by the EU of an ambitious new trade policy should ratchet up the pressure on countries like Thailand to improve human rights.  The European Commission's new trade and investment strategy stresses the importance of EU trade agreements reflecting European ‘values’ and comprehensively deals with underlying political values affecting trade policy, referring to labour, human rights and environmental protections.  It prioritises human rights, labour protection and EU values and specifically targets Asian countries for future trade deals.

While it does not mention it by name, the strategy has relevance to Thailand, a country with whom the EU has suspended negotiations on a bilateral Free Trade Agreement and which has been widely condemned for human rights violations.  On Thursday (15 October), 24 hours after its formal launch, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom outlined the strategy to members of the European Parliament's committee on international trade.

The new strategy was given a guarded welcome by German Greens MEP Ska Keller, a member of the committee, who said the "strong wording" in the communication on human rights issues was "encouraging".  However, she said the EU had to "go further" in order to be truly effective in combating human rights violations.  She said: "It is high time that clauses in trade agreements on issues such as human rights, freedom and democracy are as strong as other provisions. Promoting human rights in trade agreements is, of course, a nice idea but unless it is binding, or is backed by legislative initiative by the commission, such things will remain just that, a nice idea."

Her comments are echoed by another committee member, UK Socialist member Jude Kirton-Darling, who said: "Human rights provisions are absolutely crucial for balanced economic relations.This has popular public support. But there is also a need for concrete plans to be put in place to enable this to come about."

Addressing such concerns, Malmstrom said that issues such as child and forced labour would be included in each of the negotiating chapters when trade deals are being discussed.  But she cautioned: "The provision of human rights in FTAs also need to be addressed at the multi-lateral level in global forums such as the WTO."

In her presentation, Malmstrom emphasized the need for a "more responsible" approach to trade deals, telling MEPs: "Europeans know that trade can deliver jobs, growth and investment for consumers, workers and small companies. And they want more of those results. But they don't want to compromise on core principles like human rights."  The new strategy will make EU trade policy more responsible, she told MEPs, by basing it on three key principles - effectiveness, transparency and values.

Thailand currently enjoys trade preferences with the EU under the "Generalised Scheme of Preferences" and Malmstrom said that trade agreements and preference programmes should be used as "levers" to promote, around the world, "European values" such as sustainable development, human rights, fair and ethical trade and the fight against corruption.  "This means," she said, "including anti-corruption rules in the EU's trade agreements and to see that our trading partners implement provisions on core labour standards."

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In an hour-long debate with the committee, Malmstrom, herself a former MEP, said the new strategy, 'Trade for All', aimed to benefit workers worldwide, including those in the poorest nations.  She said it set the ground rules for a trade policy that "goes far beyond economic interests", adding that citizens had demanded the EU "does not compromise on human rights and freedoms" when the 28 nation bloc thrashes out trade deals with other countries.  "The trade strategy projects not just our economic interest but also our values.

Trade policy should not just be about economic issues but also the standards values we in Europe hold dear and wish to promote around the world."  Malmstrom added: "We can use trade agreements to this end and this new strategy will act as a vehicle to promote human rights."  The EU refuses to sign the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) finalized with Thailand in November 2013 unless the ruling military junta restores a "legitimate democratic process" and "upholds human rights and freedoms, remove censorship and releases all political detainees".  According to the Commission's communication, future trade and investment policy should be based on "fair and ethical trade and human rights".

It pledges: "Free trade agreements will also contain strong provisions to promote the respect of labour rights around the world. The Commission will make it a priority to see that our trading partners implement provisions on core labour standards like the abolition of child labour, the rights of workers to organise and non-discrimination at work."  Thailand has come under fire in particular for what have been branded by  Human Rights Watch (HRW) as "slave like" conditions for those, many of them migrants, working in the lucrative Thai seafood industry.

The communication also says future trade policy will "give more prominence to human rights concerns in trade work", adding: "We will begin intensified dialogue with the developing countries where EU trade has most influence to fight against human rights breaches."  In a recent report, the New York-based HRW said the Thai junta has "severely suppressed" fundamental rights and freedoms.  It reports, for instance, that since the military coup in May 2014, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has summoned at least 751 people to report to the military authority. Most were politicians, activists and journalists accused by the junta of criticizing or opposing military rule.

The EU is currently working on more than 20 agreements with more than 60 countries across the Americas, Asia and Africa.  But analysts say that given the current problems afflicting the so called BRIC countries like Brazil and India, the EU is keen to forge new trade alliances with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) which includes Thailand.  The EU is Thailand's third largest trading partner and latest data shows that EU imports from Thailand rose from €17 billion to €18.5bn between 2012 and 2014.  Thai exports to the EU in 2014 amounted to €12.4bn,down from €14.8bn the previous year.  In her address to MEPs, Malmstrom said the EU hoped to press ahead with trade agreements with several other countries in the region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia.  But in terms of fledgling trade negotiations, Thailand has seen itself lag behind neighbours like Vietnam, which concluded trade talks with the EU over the summer.  Human rights concerns are usually cited as one reason why Thailand has fallen behind in the trade pecking order, with the EU delegation in Bangkok last month issuing a statement saying the "promotion of human rights are crucial."  Earlier this month, the European Parliament adopted a wide ranging resolution on Thailand which said migrant workers in Thailand enjoy "little protection".  The new strategy was welcomed by Alde Finnish MEP Hannu Takkula who told the meeting the EU should "make it clear" to "those nations where democracy and human rights are not respected that the EU is a rule maker, not a rule taker".

He said: "I welcome the inclusion of respect for human rights is included in the strategy. Trade policy must be an integral part of foreign policy."  While he said he welcomed the "promising" strategy, the trade committee's chairman, German MEP Bernd Lange pointed out he had asked the commission how it plans to "balance a policy of engagement and one of conditionality on human rights in trade agreements."  UK Socialist MEP David Martin, another member of the committee, told this website the Parliament has "long called" for "far greater coherence" between the Union's foreign policy and trade.

He added: "The Thai regime is not a legitimate partner with which to negotiate. That would make a mockery of the human rights clauses linked to EU trade agreements."  Swedish Greens MEP Linnea Engstrom, meanwhile, says she has advocated for the inclusion of "explicit references" to human and labour rights in the free trade agreements that the EU negotiates.  The Communication will now be considered by EU member states and the European Parliament, as well as by the European Economic and Social Committee. It will also be discussed with stakeholders.

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