According to a report issued by a panel of experts on 20 January as part of South Korea’s bilateral agreement with the EU, South Korea needs to adjust these regulations and practices to comply with the principles of freedom of association. The EU had requested the convening of this panel under consideration of the fact that the partner country was not making sufficient efforts to comply with the provisions of the agreement on worker’ freedom of association.
Indeed, the experts were of the opinion that respecting the principles providing for freedom of association formed the basis of the treaty, even though they have no effect on trade. These principles must therefore be binding, even if the relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) are not ratified by one of the two parties. “The panel finds that the Parties assumed new obligations when they concluded the EU-Korea FTA. A new obligation is the commitment in Article 13.4.3 to respecting, promoting and realising the principles concerning the fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of association”, they stated in their report.
South Korea should therefore amend its law to broaden the definition of a workers and of trade union, and to allow workers to freely elect their trade union representatives.
However, the panel ruled against the EU on the ratification process for the International Labour Organization conventions. The EU had criticised Seoul for not having tried hard enough to carry out ratification of the ILO’s fundamental conventions. The experts were of the opinion that even if South Korea was not making optimal efforts, it had nevertheless made efforts and had therefore fulfilled its commitment.
Read the report: https://bit.ly/3a6ITXg (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)