The Place of Labor Rights in the European Union’s Environmental Policies

Abstract

This Article analyzes the potential impact of the European Commission’s proposed “European Green Deal” on labor rights, in particular the rights of workers in lower-income EU Member States. It focuses on environmental measures, already part of the EU’s existing environmental policies and further contemplated in the Green Deal, which prohibit or tax certain polluting production processes. Such measures, insofar as they apply uniformly to traded-good industries, are likely to make firms in lower-income EU Member States less competitive and harm their workers’ rights to work and to fair wages. Thus, even though these environmental measures are worth pursuing for the benefits they procure, the distribution of their costs is likely to run afoul of egalitarian norms. This Article puts forward an institutionalist approach to trade theory which recognizes that competitiveness is legally constructed. It argues on the basis of that theory that lower-income countries should be allowed to adopt ambitious industrial policies and subsidize their firms to insulate workers from the disruptions caused by added environmental regulatory costs. More broadly, this Article presents an agenda to pursue radical environmental transformation while remedying, or at least not worsening, inequalities between workers and citizens in the EU.

Greenhouse gas emissions and Green Deal in the European Union

“…Other important actions that are taken into account to offer European citizens an improved wellbeing are (EC2-European Commission, 2019;Ponce, 2022;McDougall, 2021;Borbujo et al, 2021): cleaning the air, water and soil; packaging reusing and recycling; reducing food waste; creating premises for the use of green energy; renovation and rehabilitation of buildings of major interest and not only such as residential buildings, schools, hospitals, state institutions, etc.,; increasing the number of eco-friendly products sold in traditional and online stores; creating the premises for maintaining and improving the health of citizens as well as for the following generations; improving public transport and creating alternatives that use electricity; building an infrastructure for easier charging of electric means of transport; healthier food, obtained by using a smaller amount of pesticides and fertilisers.…”

The Roaring 20s for Social Europe. The European Pillar of Social Rights and burgeoning EU legislation

“… 38 McDougall (2021) argues that we need to pay attention to the regional distributive implications of environmental regulatory costs under the European Green Deal for differently situated workers and welfare beneficiaries within the EU. …”

Labour law in a changing world

“…Prassl and Risak 2016;Mangan 2020; Senatori and Spinelli 2022. 10 Stevis andFelli 2015;Doorey 2016;Tomassetti 2017;McDougall 2021.Many of these publications propose ideas on how to improve the situation of workers, especially by pointing out certain problems or risks, and by elaborating on how those problems or risks could be prevented or mitigated by labour laws. Some are highly theoretical in nature, such as the books A Purposive Approach to Labour Law by Guy Davidov; The Capability Approach to Labour Law by Brian Langille; and Reflexive Labour Law in the World Society by Ralf Rogowski.…”