Paper Titles & Abstracts

"Business and human rights" is one of the latest and most promising novelties in the landscape of transnational global governance. On 16 June 2011, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the 'Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights', thus establishing a comprehensive framework based on (1) the state duty to protect human rights from corporate abuses and (2) the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. The Guiding Principles have swiftly become an authoritative focal point at the national, regional and international level, and have added to a flourishing number of transnational initiatives aimed at enhancing firms' human rights practices. The European Union has not been at the forefront of UN efforts on business and human rights issues. However, the attitude is changing, and the European Commission is now taking a leadership role in this respect. The first part of the paper explores what the European Union is currently doing to promote respect for human rights from European corporations. For instance, the European Commission is now working with Member States, enterprises and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to develop human rights guidance for three 'core' industrial sectors: employment and recruitment agencies; information and communication technology; oil and gas. In addition, European public procurement policies are under revision and their final version might include reference to human rights instruments. The second part of the paper explores what the European Union could do (and is not doing) to further improve the human rights performance of companies originating from, and operating in, European countries.