The
free movement of labour is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union.
Movement of Workers and Regional Trade Agreements
"Movement of workers, or labour mobility, is approached in a wide variety of ways in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Some agreements cover the mobility of people in general (i.e. including permanent migration and non-workers); others offer
free movement of labour (including entry to the local labour market); others are limited to facilitated movement for certain kinds of trade- or investment-related activities; and others, like the GATS [General Agreement on Trade in Services], are confined to temporary movement and only for service suppliers (and explicitly exclude entry to the labour market or permanent migration). Additionally, some cover workers at all skill levels, while others are limited to the higher skilled."
(Nielson, J.,
Labour Mobility in Regional Trade Agreements",
Joint WTO - World Bank Symposium on Movement of Natural Persons (Mode 4) under the Gats, 2002, visited 2009-06-16)
