The Council of the EU requested this FRA Opinion in its Conclusions on business and human rights. The expert opinion sought from FRA was to look at “possible avenues to lower barriers for access to remedy at the EU level” – the third of three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles.

Unlike the Vinerian perspective [named after Jacob Viner], which is generally critical of bilateral trade agreements and provides only a limited justification for them, the Subsidiarity perspective sees them in a more positive light, providing several explanations and justifications for their...