Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a feature of the new generation of trade agreements that they do that. Trade agreements used to be short. They would be a couple of pages and would state there were no tariffs, barriers or whatever. Things have changed a lot. Trade agreements have become very detailed and tend to include many provisions, including provisions underpinning the rights of workers, minimum product standards, environmental protections and so on. This is a good example of the new generation of trade agreements that are not just about trade.

In trade agreements, we try to avoid renegotiating entire international agreements or conventions and, therefore, we will say the agreement has to be faithful to the Paris climate accords or to International Labour Organization labour standards. We try to integrate these protections and guarantees in the trade agreement but avoid reopening existing agreements and standards.