BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission set out its demand on Friday that the fights against illegal logging and child labour be written into a future EU-U.S. free trade deal, part of a broader bid to win over a sceptical public.
The text on sustainable development will be a distinct chapter in the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to ensure high standards in each partner and cooperation to address such issues.
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told a news conference that the text would entail the most comprehensive commitment to labour rights and environmental protection ever contained in a trade agreement.
"It aims to make sure we reap the economic benefits of trade and the global supply chains, but we are also taking responsibility for their broader impact," she said. "It also rules out a race to the bottom."
The Commission, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of the 28 EU members, is seeking increased cooperation to fight illegal logging, fishing and trade in endangered wildlife and promoting trade in green goods and technologies.
It also wants to promote protection of International Labour Organisation standards, such as the right to collective bargaining or to strike, as well as seeking to end forced or child labour.
Malmstrom pointed, as an example, to cooperation that had already taken place to promote improved labour standards in Bangladesh after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex in 2013, which killed more than 1,000 garment workers.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth said the document was full of vaguely worded language that provided no safeguards for the environment.
"The only chapter that could bring strong language to protect essential regulations to build a sustainable future is weak and unenforceable," it said.
The TTIP text, submitted to the United States, is part of a broader revamp of trade policy launched last month and designed to connect more with environmental and consumer groups, which have been particularly sceptical or hostile towards the partnership.