Let's try: Labor Standards in Free Trade Agreements as an Experiment

This proposed paper explores an alternative perspective on the inclusion of labour standards in European policies, employing the concept of experimental governance in European integration. It contends that the expansion of labour standards' competence aligns with the neo-functional model of the European Union's development, characterized by continual competency expansion and growing interdependencies. However, the text argues that promoted labour standards have political and economic elements resulting from processes beyond European decision-makers' influence. Two factors support this argument: the continued responsibility of member states for labour standards and the sociological approach to European integration analysis. The latter emphasizes the Commission's focus on power, prestige, and authority, making power and governance phenomena more noticeable when supranational and intergovernmental integration concepts clash. Ultimately, this alternative perspective calls for a broader analysis of labour standards in the context of multiple approaches. The paper has been based on extensive semi-structured interviews conducted in Brussels, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, and Australia with negotiators or officials involved in EU FTAs negotiations.