The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Implications for ILO Standards and the European Social Charter in the United Kingdom

Abstract

One of the most notable developments in relation to the ILO for more than 20 years has been the reference to ILO standards in an increasingly diverse range of sources. These include corporate codes, global framework agreements, judicial decisions, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as bilateral and pluri-lateral free trade agreements and elsewhere. There is no shortage now of commitments to the ILO despite the employer generated controversy about its standards, though it cannot be said that the commitment is reflected in compliance. As labour standards continue to erode globally, the ILO provides much needed decoration in a liberal economic climate. In this article it is proposed with some scepticism to examine yet another frontier for ILO standards as the organisation passes its centenary. This is the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) concluded in 2020 to deal with the relationship between the EU and the UK after Brexit. It may seem strange that what many (myself included) regard as a regressive step should contain the soil in which labour standards can grow