However, since the March 2019 elections and the rise of former putschist general General Prayut Chan-ocha as prime minister, the EU has hinted that it sees the end of Thailand`s official military government as a chance to resume trade with Bangkok. In 2019, the EU and the Thai government have begun preparing for a possible resumption of free trade negotiations between the EU and Thailand. The EU is committed to putting respect for human rights at the heart of its trade policy. The European Union has free trade agreements [1] and other agreements with a trade component with many countries around the world and negotiates with many other countries. [2] The EU has trade agreements with these countries/regions, but both sides are now negotiating an update. Negotiated agreement, meetings, fact sheets, circular reports “The Thai government has made many promises to ratify ILO conventions and implement necessary labour law reforms, but has not done so. In the absence of reforms, no additional trade benefits should be granted. The EU also reaffirmed its willingness to resume free trade agreements between the EU and the EU as soon as possible. The relevant agencies will discuss the details at a meeting of a trade and investment committee in December. “Clearly discriminatory legislation that prevents migrant workers from forming unions and collectively bargaining because they do not have Thai citizenship are feudal, abusive provisions that have no place in a modern economy like Thailand,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. These efforts include preparations for the signing of a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (CPA) aimed at strengthening economic and political ties with Thailand, as well as the resumption of trade negotiations with Southeast Asia`s second-largest economy. In a letter to Valdis Dombrovkis, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, they note that the weakness of Thailand`s labour legislation falls well short of international standards. They also point out that the government has a poor record in preventing and combating abuses with labour law, such as forced labour, discrimination against migrant workers and violations of freedom of association. The letter calls on the European Union to define a clear, measurable and temporary roadmap for Thailand before the resumption of trade negotiations.
In particular, it calls for this roadmap to include the ratification of ILO Conventions 87 and 98, which cover freedom of association and the rights of collective agreements, followed by the adoption of amendments to national labour legislation to bring them in line with these fundamental ILO conventions. Another signatory to the letter is supermarket distributor Aldi Nord, whose director CR/QA International, Erik Hollman, said: “For the implementation of the UN`s global guidelines, it is particularly important that strengthening workers` rights and appropriate standards of employment practices is an integral part of trade agreements. Human rights and sustainability should already be firmly entrenched in these agreements. The fourth EU Implementation Report (Other Languages), published in November 2020 and preceded by the preface by DG Commerce Director-General Sabine Weyand (other languages), provides an overview of the results achieved in 2019 and the remarkable work for the EU`s 36 main preferential trade agreements.