Download Briefing Paper 84 TRADE AND ILLEGAL LABOUR: A NEW PARADIGM BRIEFING PAPER 84 – OCTOBER 2024 ERIKA SZYSZCZAK Key points Introduction Forced Labour Regulation The corporate sustainability due diligence directive Paradigm shift: blurring the state/public duty to protect rights and private responsibility Complementary Approaches Conclusion Footnotes Key points Two EU measures, the Forced Labour Regulation (FLR) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) focus on how goods and services enter global supply chains. These measures complement established human rights and criminal responsibility norms in tackling the use of illegal labour in supply chains. The FLR and CSDDD are part of the EU Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) and aim to identify risks and protect the integrity of supply chains. The measures are a mix of EU trade considerations and EU fundamental rights values. The FLR and CSDDD create new legal obligations, new processes, and new remedies to combat the use of illegal labour in supply chains. The measures create a new paradigm: they make private (non-state) actors responsible for ensuring international and national human rights and sustainability provisions are adhered to in global supply chains. The processes and remedies provide avenues for stakeholders and private individuals to [...]

Briefing Paper 76 – September 2023 Download Briefing Paper 76 Erika Szyszczak Key points Introduction The threat from China and the US: A stymied global trade order EU Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Preserving EU values and the OSA Translating policy into a legal concept Significant legal developments Defending against economic coercion Conclusion Key points In response to the increasing breakdown of the global trading system, the EU is developing economic statecraft through a policy of Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA). The OSA combines EU trade defence policies with EU commitments to sustainability goals. OSA utilises a mosaic of EU legal bases drawn from trade and foreign policy to create a new set of trade defence instruments for the EU. However, the OSA is limited by EU constitutional law and international law. Whilst the OSA has developed in response to threats from the US and China, the UK is potentially a target for OSA action. The EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) does not cover foreign policy issues. The EU has more defence weapons and experience when handling trade disputes than the UK. In the next phase of enforcement of the post-Brexit deal, the UK could find itself [...]

Briefing Paper 70 – October 2022 Download Briefing Paper 70 Erika Szyszczak Key Points Introduction Subsidies granted by third states The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) The definition of a concentration Ex ante mandatory notification: qualifying thresholds Financial contribution An actual or potential distortive effect on the EU internal market Implications for the UK The Anti-Coercion Instrument The definition of economic coercion When diplomacy fails Compatibility with international law Conclusion Key Points The EU is developing new legal instruments to respond to, and provide remedies against, trade policies of third states which harm the EU internal market. While China is the main threat to EU trade security the measures will be applicable to all third states, especially Russia, the US and the UK. The proposals give the European Commission a central role in the investigation and enforcement of trade remedies but will have significant consequences for business The proposals have less than transparent criteria for their application. This gives the European Commission wide discretion but may also entail further guidance, using soft law, if the European Commission wants to avoid legal challenges to the exercise of its new powers. The Anti-Coercion Instrument attempts to bypass the slow procedures of [...]