Collective labour rights in EU and international law: consolidation, reconciliation and beyond?

This chapter begins by considering the relationship between the Member States, the EU and the relevant instruments of international law. The disparate systems under which labour standards have developed impose conflicting obligations on EU Member States in certain respects. The varying interpretations given to the rights to freedom of association and collective action within the EU and international legal orders are used to illustrate such conflict. The chapter assesses the impact that an increasingly formal relationship between EU and international law is likely to have on EU law’s supremacy. In conclusion, the authors question whether the CFR, which consolidates the EU and international law regimes, also has the capacity to reconcile the differing labour standards that have evolved.