Home
Dutch government party calls for corporate accountability ombudsman
On March 7 2013 the social democratic party (PvdA) called for a national corporate accountability ombudsman during a parliamentary debate on CSR. They see the need for better monitoring of corporate behaviour. Jan Vos, MP for the PvdA states that after the launch of international guidelines and agreements on corporate accountability, time has come to make sure that companies respect the rules. A corporate accountability ombudsman should have the possibility to initiate investigations and to impose sanctions (including fines). Many opposition parties reacted in favor of this proposal (ChristenUnie, SP, GroenLinks and D66). However, the Christian democrats and coalition partner VVD (the liberals) are not in favor.
Human Rights Due Diligence: the Role of States
In recent years, the concept of human rights due diligence (HRDD) has risen to prominence in the field of Business and Human Rights and is now embedded in several international agreements including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP), and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational enterprises. HRDD is a process companies must undertake to assess properly the risks and impacts of their operations with regard to human rights, and to design and implement a plan to prevent and mitigate these risks and impacts.
ECCJ recommendations to EU conference implementing UNGP
The Danish presidency of the European Union is hosting an expert conference on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Copenhagen on the 7 and 8 May. ECCJ will be participating to this event and has sent preliminary recommendations in order to specify the priorities for the European Commission and the EU Member States in implementing the UNGP.
The new CSR Frame of Reference now available in English
The new Frame of Reference for corporate social responsibility (CSR) provides a clear overview of how the MVO Platform perceives CSR. It is developed by the 30 member organisations of the MVO Platform.
New CSR vision European Commission
On October 25 the European Commission released its new vision on CSR. The communication clearly shows a different attitude towards CSR: now the Commission acknowledges a role for public authorities in regulating business activity 'where necessary' while before this was not considered needed.
