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4.17. (...) On 21 September 2017, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada entered into provisional application (...) In February 2019, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (the EU-Japan EPA) entered into force.
4.18. The two agreements are new generation free trade agreements. They go beyond trade in goods and services; they cover also intellectual property, investments, government procurement, customs and trade facilitation, competition, regulatory cooperation, trade and sustainable development. (...)

4.20. The Court of Justice confirmed in its opinion 2/15 on the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement that the majority of areas covered by this FTA (ranging from trade in goods, to services, to public procurement or sustainable development) fall under the exclusive competence of the EU. (...)

4.31. The EU Treaties require that the EU's external action promote the principles and international values upon which the European Union is founded, including sustainable development, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for fundamental rights. This is done in a positive, incentive-based way and at different levels.

4.32. At multilateral level and as a WTO Member, the EU is an active player in the WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies and in the WTO Committee on Trade and Development. It also is actively involved in the work of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment and supports efforts to liberalise trade in environmental goods and services.

4.33. At bilateral level, the EU promotes labour and environmental considerations in its trade agreements through dedicated chapters on trade and sustainable development (TSD). Bilateral agreements under implementation that contain such chapters include those with Canada, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, Georgia, Moldova, South Korea and Ukraine. Also, the recently signed agreements with Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Vietnam have a TSD chapter, as does the recently concluded agreement with Mercosur. TSD chapters include commitments to ratify and effectively implement fundamental International Labour Organization conventions and Multilateral Environmental Agreements. The chapters also contain specific provisions on the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources (e.g. timber, fish and wildlife) and the promotion of practices favouring sustainable development and responsible business practices. They also aim to prevent the risk of a race to the bottom, by prohibiting derogations from or lack of enforcement of domestic environmental or labour laws in order to encourage trade and investment.

4.34. At unilateral level, the EU's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) removes duties from products coming into the EU market from vulnerable developing countries. Under the general GSP arrangement, the EU grants partial or full tariff reductions on around 66% of tariff lines. The Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) grants mostly duty-free treatment to essentially the same 66% of tariff lines. (...)

4.35. (...) The GSP+ arrangement requires countries to fulfil, ratify and effectively implement a total of 27 international conventions covering core human and labour rights, environmental protection, and good governance. (...)

4.36. In December 2017, the EU and its Member States updated their joint Aid for Trade (AfT) Strategy to change their collective approach towards supporting developing countries' trade and productive capacities . The objective of the updated strategy is to better align EU AfT interventions with actual market-driven opportunities and constraints, to ensure a better quantitative focus on LDCs and to increase the contribution of AfT to sustainable development goals, while supporting a stronger participation of women in the economy. (...)

4.46. Regarding horizontal due diligence legislation, in 2018, for the first time, listed companies, banks and insurance companies with more than 500 employees were required to disclose non financial information in their management reports relating to environmental, social and labour issues, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery issues. (...)

4.47. The EU continues to promote fair and ethical trade schemes with a view to raising awareness on both the supply- and the demand-side and on developing more sustainable trade opportunities for small producers in third countries. The EU has introduced initiatives which aim to recognise cities' positive impact in social, economic and environmental sustainability in international trade. In 2017, the "EU Cities for Fair and Ethical Trade Award" was set up as a project.