EP-066526A_ITRE

The Development Committee of the European Parliament approves a ground-breaking Resolution on the EU’s input to a UN Binding Instrument

After having expressed its support for the Binding Treaty in multiple occasions, the European Parliament is now ready to take a historical step forward: the approval of a Resolution stating its view on how the UN Binding Treaty can contribute to balance the unfair consequences of unregulated globalisation.

The Resolution, which was approved on the 11th July by the Committee of development of the European Parliament goes beyond supporting the process and expresses clear proposals on the content that the treaty shall include in order to address the asymmetries of power between States, communities, individuals and corporations. After its approval by the development committee the Resolution will be discussed and voted in the plenary session of the European Parliament in September.

The Resolution, which will be available soon in the website of the development committee of the EU Parliament, recognises the need to complement the UNGPs with a parallel binding initiative to cover their shortcomings, and gives meaningful guidelines on the expectations of the EU Parliament on the European Union’s delegation and the delegations of the EU Member States in this process. The Resolution calls on them to go beyond taking an active role in the process and actually pushing for, among others:

  • the definition of mandatory due diligence obligations for TNCs and other business enterprises, including with respect to their subsidiaries;
  • the recognition of extraterritorial human rights obligations of states; the recognition of corporate criminal liability;
  • mechanisms for coordination and cooperation among states on investigation, prosecution and enforcement of cross-border cases;
  • the setting-up of international judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for supervision and enforcement;
  • the imposition impose on States of the obligation to adopt regulatory measures requiring companies to apply human rights due diligence policies and procedures by means of companies being accountable in either the forum where the harm was caused, or the forum where the parent company is incorporated or where it has a substantial presence

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