Duty of care and access to justice for victims of corporate human rights abuses will be discussed in an European Parliament event

ECCJ will participate in the event "Access to Remedy for victims of human rights; the Role of the EU", which will take place next Wednesday, 11 April at the European Parliament. The event is organised by the recently created Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), made up by members of different political groups of the European Parliament (current membership, which can be consulted in the RBC's website, include MEPs from the Greens/EFA,  S&D, ALDE, EFDD, GUE/NGL, and EPP).

The agenda will kick off with an overview of the state of play in the EU legislative framework, including the assessment conducted by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency on the current obstacles faced by victims of corporate human rights abuses when they try to obtain remedy in European courts. Presentations will also address ongoing global initiatives to implement the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, such as the OECD Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct that will published later this year.

After this general overview, the second panel will address the avenues to regulate the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, with a particular focus on Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation and duty of care. The panel will include a review of the landmark French duty of vigilance law, which has just celebrated its first anniversary.

The event will have a multi-stakeholder participation, as it will include members of the Parliament, the European Commission and some of its bodies, other international bodies such as the UN working Group on Business and Human Rights or the OECD, and business companies.

Registrations can be made to the email address: responsible-business(at)ep.europa.eu

The full agenda can be downloaded here.