Title: Introducing a new set of guidelines to implement the 'duty of care' of the EU institutions and agencies towards their internationally mobile workforce

Authors: Andrea De Guttry

Addresses: Public International Law, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, DIRPOLIS Institute, 56127 Pisa, Italy

Abstract: In recent years, the European Union (EU) has participated in an increasing number of international civilian operations, most of which deployed in high or critical risk countries; nowadays there are about 2100 persons (both EU officers and EU seconded personnel) working in these areas. Many cases of physical or brain injuries have been reported. During the last few years, owing to the growing number of disputes related to assumed violations of the Duty of Care (DoC) principle, the national and international jurisprudence has further contributed to the definition of the precise contours of this legal institute. Facing this situation, the EU is expected to rapidly enact a fully fledged DoC policy in order to take responsible action on the international scenario. This strategy should drastically reduce existing discrepancies within the different institutions, directorates general and agencies of the EU. To facilitate this undertaking, this paper proposes a set of guidelines for the implementation of the DoC of EU institutions and agencies towards their internationally mobile workforce.

Keywords: duty of care; international law; international organisations; European Union; guidelines; internationally mobile workforce; workforce mobility; high risk countries; critical risk countries; EU institutions; EU agencies; international civilian operations.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2015.072220

European Journal of International Management, 2015 Vol.9 No.6, pp.673 - 689

Received: 25 Aug 2014
Accepted: 12 Jun 2015

Published online: 05 Oct 2015 *

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