The EU’s Evolving Approach to Environmental Provisions in Free Trade Agreements

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the promotion of sustainable development became a constitutional imperative for the EU in its relations with third countries. A practical manifestation of this has been the inclusion of environmental (and labour) provisions in the free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by the EU since 2010, which have sought to advance a distinct ‘promotional’ model for regulating trade-environment (and trade-labour) linkages in FTAs. However, the more recent agreements with the United Kingdom and New Zealand signal a paradigm shift in the EU’s approach to promoting environmental sustainability in FTAs. This chapter examines such an evolution in EU FTA practice with regards to both substantive environmental commitments and monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. In doing so, it discusses some of the key challenges that have emerged in terms of policy ambition and compliance.