Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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379. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide details of the protections for human rights contained within the Colombia Free Trade Agreement; the commitments to effectively implement international conventions on labour rights and environmental protection; the way civil society organisations will be systematically involved in the monitoring of the implementation of these commitments; the persons on the civil society organisation that will be selected; the person that will choose the organisations to be involved in this oversight mechanism; and the way the arbitration system will work where human workers or environmental rights abuses are found to have occurred. [41056/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Article 1 of the agreement stipulates that the respect for democratic principles and the fundamental human rights, as laid down by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and for the principle of the rule of law is an "essential element" of the Agreement.

This means that a failure to respect Human Rights and democratic principles would constitute a "material breach" of the Agreement which, under public international law, could give rise to the adoption of appropriate measures, including the possibility to terminate or to suspend partially or totally the Agreement.

Article 8(3) of the Agreement gives further details on how cases of non-fulfilment of obligations have to be dealt with. If one Party has breached the "essential elements", the other Party would be entitled to adopt proportionate measures without delay. There could be consultations between governments in order to clarify and discuss the situation, but such consultations would not have suspensive effects – that is, the action taken as a response to the violation of "essential elements" would deploy its full effects pending the outcome of consultations.

Reactions to a breach of "essential elements" can take different forms. As regards the suspension of international agreements, Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union sets out the procedure to follow: it is for the Council, on a proposal from the Commission or the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to adopt a decision suspending application of an international agreement. The European Parliament must be immediately and fully informed throughout the procedure.

In any event, the Agreement needs to be seen in the context of the broader relations between the EU and Colombia and Peru, where Human Rights are very high on the agenda. Human Rights issues are regularly raised through the existing mechanisms for political dialogue such as the Human Rights dialogue with Colombia. Those channels for political engagement form a privileged platform to conduct regular exchanges and oversight.

The Agreement confirms the Parties' commitments to effectively implement both in law and in practice the Core Labour Standards, as contained in the ILO Fundamental Conventions. The reference to the Fundamental Conventions is important in order to guarantee that the provision will be interpreted in line with their legal provisions. The commitment to promote and implement the Core Labour Standards reflects the international understanding that countries should not seek to gain a competitive advantage in international trade through the violation of basic labour rules.

Both Colombia and Peru have ratified all eight Fundamental Conventions. Despite significant progress in recent years, implementation problems persist in some areas, requiring additional efforts and cooperation with the ILO. EU bilateral cooperation can also support specific improvements on the ground.

On the environmental front, the Agreement reaffirms the commitment to effectively implement eight key Multilateral Environmental Agreements ("MEAs") with a special importance in the trade context (Article 270). Those agreements are the seven MEAs covered under the GSP+ scheme, plus the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent. By integrating the commitment to give effect to MEAs, the Agreement ensures that key environmental requirements are given due weight in domestic policy-making and are not subordinated to economic interests, including when devising trade-related measures.

Civil society organisations and citizens have an important role in the implementation of the "trade and sustainable development" Title of the Agreement. They can raise concerns or express views on labour or environmental matters. There will be regular meetings and, on every occasion, there must be an open session where civil society organisations and citizens can directly raise issues. All decisions or reports must be made public

In line with other EU trade agreements, there will be an important institutional development in order to ensure operational channels for consultation with civil society: Article 281 lays down the functions of domestic advisory committees or groups composed of civil society representatives, with a balanced representation of economic, social and environmental interests. Those committees or groups must be consulted and can also make recommendations on their own initiative.

Civil society organisations will therefore oversee the implementation of the provisions in the Title on "Trade and Sustainable Development" (TSD), but their input can extend to the broader operation of the Agreement. In particular, there will be ex-post impact assessments of the implementation of the Agreement in its entirety, through each Party's participative processes as well as jointly (Articles 279 and 280(6)).

The EU-Colombia/Peru Trade Agreement sets out that each Party consults existing, or creates domestic labour and environment or sustainable development, committees or groups (DAGs) with the task of advising on the implementation of the TSD title. The DAGs are comprised of a balanced representation of representative organisations in sustainable development (Article 281).

The EU has opted for setting up a DAG composed of 3 members of the EESC as well as other representatives of EU trade unions, business associations and NGOs. The EU foresees close cooperation with the EESC in the DAG's management. Organisations participating in the EU DAG met the 30 January 2014. The EU DAG will continue to meet on a regular basis. The European Commission participates in part of the DAG's meetings and ensures a continuous dialogue with its advisory group. Colombia and Peru opted for building on existing domestic consultative mechanisms covering environmental and labour in order to ensure civil society's advice on the implementation of the TSD title.

The EU-Colombia/Peru Trade Agreement provides for a mechanism for open dialogue between the Parties and civil society organisations and the public at large (Article 282) that is convened by the EU-Colombia/Peru Sub-committee on TSD at least once a year, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties. Procedures for such sessions foresee that the EU-Colombia/Peru TSD Sub-committee provides for the chairs of the session with civil society and that each party invites and encourages the participation of the civil society members of its DAG. The members of these DAGs play a role in setting up the agenda and in conducting part of the discussions during the open session.

The first session with civil society was organised in Lima, Peru the 7th February 2014, back-to-back to the meeting of EU-Colombia/Peru TSD Sub-committee.

This open session was attended by representatives of the EU DAG as well as civil society established in the partner countries. Institutional set-up issues were discussed with a view to ensure effective functioning of civil society bodies, as well as the labour rights and environmental situation in Colombia and Peru. The chairs of the EU-Colombia/Peru Sub-committee debriefed participants on the outcome of the Sub-committee's meeting on the basis of its Joint Statement, which can be found at

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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380. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs' contribution on the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in July 2014 and Parliamentary Question No. 33 of 16 October 2014 regarding the findings of the Copenhagen study commissioned by his Department, his plans to publish the findings of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41069/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the study commissioned by my Department is to examine the economic and other impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and related potential opportunities for Ireland. The focus of this study is to identify key areas and sectors of the economy that will be impacted by TTIP. This will help to inform our input to the European Union’s negotiating position. It will also help in identifying appropriate policy responses to be deployed to maximise the potential of this historic agreement and provide an assessment of the longer term implications for enterprise policy.

The Conference on TTIP that I hosted in Dublin Castle on 20 June, to which Oireachtas members from relevant Joint Committees were invited, heard some preliminary findings from Copenhagen Economics that indicate a comprehensive trade and investment deal between the EU and the US could lead to a 1.1% increase in Irish GDP. Other preliminary findings included benefits for Ireland including increased exports (2.7%) real wages (1.4%) and investment (1.6%).

The study is still underway, and while I have no plans to publish at this stage, I will make headline findings widely available.