Upholding and Promoting Human Rights and the Rights of Persons Belonging to Minorities in EU Free Trade Agreements: New Developments and Persistent Challenges

This chapter examines how the European Union upholds and promotes human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, through its new generation trade agreements. It begins by setting out the relevant framework with a brief overview of the evolution of human rights integration into the EU’s common commercial policy. The second part examines how human rights are promoted in the context of EU new generation trade agreements. In particular, it highlights that human rights are not confined to the “essential elements” clause but are also embedded in some “new generation” provisions of the agreements. However, it highlights that the mechanisms for operationalizing these commitments remain weak. The third part focuses on the specific dimension of the rights of persons belonging to minorities. In particular, it discusses the recent EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which introduces innovative elements that could serve as a useful model for future bilateral and multilateral agreements. The chapter concludes with some brief reflections on the extent to which EU new generation trade agreements represent progress in the international protection of human rights and their potential to shape future developments in the international legal order. It also highlights the inherent shortcomings of the current EU approach.