The aim of the paper is to analyze the functions of international labor law standards in the free trade agreements (FTAs) and preferential trade arrangements (PTA) of the European Union. The main research hypothesis is that labour standards in FTA / PTA serve the interests of public and private actors, guided by divergent preferences, which act in strategic constellations. Referring to the Commission's political values of a universal nature, such as human rights, justice, but also market-related ideas and economic growth, international labor standards have several dimensions. Building the image of the EU as a normative power is combined with trade power, where labor standards are of secondary importance. In terms of the political preferences of European Commission guided by the logic of deepening and widening European integration, areas regulated partly by the Member States, like labour standards, are gradually included into PTAs / FTA, entirely negotiated on the EU level. From the point of view of political practice, this means the existence of covert integration, where the main function of labour standards contained in PTAs/FTAs is to enhance the competence of the Commission. At the same time European Commission and European Parliament promote the belief that normative values are bedrock of EU external activities, while labor standards in FTA /PTAs follow trade logic and logic of deepening of integration in areas of core state powers.
