Resolution on corporate liability for serious human rights abuses in third countries — follow-up

22.11.2016

Question for written answer E-008717-16
to the Council
Rule 130
Ángela Vallina (GUE/NGL)

On 25 October 2016, Parliament approved Resolution 2015/2315 (INI) on corporate liability for serious human rights abuses in third countries.

That resolution recognised the progress achieved with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, signed in 2011, but noted that ‘effective control and sanction mechanisms remain a challenge in the worldwide implementation of the UNGPs’. It also recalled the need for ‘binding instruments devoted to the effective protection of human rights’. Parliament welcomed, in this regard, the establishment of the intergovernmental working group within the UN Human Rights Council to draw up a proposal for a binding global treaty on respect for human rights, and called ‘on the EU and its Member States to engage constructively in these negotiations’.

— What action is the Council taking in connection with the working group?— Does it intend to promote internally, a binding treaty for transnational corporations as sought by Parliament?