EU parliament panel debate on business and human rights

Business and Human Rights:

Roles and Prospects for the European Union – Perspectives from North and South

EU Parliament, room JAN6Q1

In October 2017, the United Nations will begin historic negotiations for a Treaty on businesses and human rights. This Treaty would aim to create an international legal framework to ensure that transnational companies respect human rights wherever they operate. Among the international community, however, there remain different opinions on the Treaty and how far it should go in regulating private companies.

In the lead-up to negotiations, MEP Claude Rolin (PPE) and a coalition of Belgian and international NGOs, including CIDSE and its Belgian member Entraide et Fraternité,
are hosting a panel discussion on the role of the European Union in promoting and applying international human rights at the corporate level.

At the same time, CIDSE will release a study on ensuring the primacy of human rights in trade and investment policies that proposes model clauses for the UN Treaty.

The panel will feature:

MEP Claude Rolin (EPP, Belgium) for the introduction

Mgr Alvaro Ramazzini, Bishop of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, who will provide examples of the impacts of extractive industries on local communities and the struggle of communities to have their rights respected.

Claire Courteille, Director of ILO-Brussels, who will share her expertise on the links between States, corporations and employees, and the labour rights that need to be taken into consideration in global supply chains.

Dr. Markus Krajewski, Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and author of the above-mentioned CIDSE study, who will comment on the links between trade agreements and the respect of human rights.

Private sector representative, (name to be confirmed), who will share views on the responsibility of companies with regards to human rights impacts in their supply chains.

MEP Claude Rolin will conclude the debate with possible paths of engagement for the EU Parliament.

To RSVP  please contact Kelly Di Domenico, didomenico@cidse.org, Tel:  +32 (0)2 282 40 73, Cell: +32 (0)4 595 55 50.