On September 15, 2021, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the European Union speech announced that the European Commission will propose a ban on products made with forced labour, stating that “There are 25 million people out there, who are threatened or coerced into forced labour. We can never accept that they are forced to make product and that these products then end up for sale in shops here in Europe”.
Read moreTag: Due diligence
Right to information under the new Norwegian human right due diligence law
On June 10, 2021, Norway adopted the Act on business transparency and work with fundamental human rights and decent work (in Norwegian), joining the small group of countries to impose human rights due diligence on (large) companies. While the act lacks on important issues (such as civil liability) interestingly, it creates an obligation for companies to provide information upon public request. None of the other legislation on business and human rights, either adopted or being currently discussed contains such obligation (see comparative table).
Read moreUpdate to the EU draft Directive on mandatory human rights due diligence
On March 10, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution submitting to the Commission and Council a draft Directive on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability.
While the draft Directive incorporates certain elements proposed in September by the Committee on Legal Affairs, others have been left out such as the constitution of criminal offense in case of intentional repeated infringements.
Read moreKeeping up with developments on human rights obligations for business
New EU Regulation imposing sanctions on companies involved in serious human rights violations worldwide
On December 7, 2020, the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation 2020/1998 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses.
Read moreFirst draft on EU mandatory human rights due diligence out
See update on the EU Parliament draft Directive adopted on March 10, 2021.
On September 2020, the EU Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs published a draft report containing a text of proposed Directive on mandatory human rights due diligence and recommendations to the EU Commission.
According to an EU Commission study, currently, only 37% of business respondents conduct environmental and human rights due diligence and only 16% cover the entire supply chain.
Read moreTowards EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence for business
Investors’ call to enforce mandatory human rights due diligence
On April 21, 2020, a group of 101 international investors representing US$5 trillion in assets under management have, in a common statement, called on “all governments to develop, implement, and enforce mandatory human rights due diligence requirements for companies headquartered or operating within their own jurisdictions”.
Read moreCompanies calling for EU regulation on due diligence on business and human rights !
On December 2, 2019, some of the world’s largest chocolate companies called the European Union (EU) to adopt a regulation placing a due diligence obligation on all companies importing cocoa or cocoa products on the European market.
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