The ILO Declaration on Principles and Fundamental Rights at Work, which was adopted in 1998 as an ILO response to globalization, states that all Members have an obligation arising from the very fact of ILO membership to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the Constitution, the principles concerning certain fundamental rights including freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

In a global context characterized by spiralling numbers of integration initiatives, the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization established by the ILO stated in 2004 that regional integration and cooperation can serve as a stepping stone to take advantage of global opportunities and to ensure that the benefits are fairly distributed, i.e. to promote a more equitable pattern of globalization.

Regional integration poses many challenges in the field of freedom of association both for governments and employers' and workers' organizations and with regard to the relevant international labour standards and the systems that have been set up to monitor their application. The issues at stake also vary widely from one region to another.