Workshop "Implementing human rights and environmental due diligence"

Strasbourg/online, 6 December 2022

Dear members of the CDDH, observers, invited guests, 

Welcome to all of you, in person or online.

We are very pleased to have in this workshop representatives of our member States who are directly involved in issues of corporate responsibility for human rights.

We value highly the participation of representatives of the business community, civil society and the academic world.

As you may know, the Council of Europe brings to the international arena a solid and rich set of standards on human rights and business.

The State’s obligation to protect human rights against violations and abuses by third parties, including private persons or entities, is now well anchored in the doctrine of positive obligations of the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2016, our Committee of Ministers adopted the Recommendation on Human Rights and Business, which builds on the UN Guiding Principles of 2011.

For years, this instrument has been a framework of reference for our 46 member States, together with other instruments adopted by the Committee of Ministers concerning corporate social responsibility regarding specific sectors, for example the ICT sector. [1]

The Council of Europe’s engagement to promote human rights and environmental due diligence by business enterprises does not stop there.

In September this year, the Committee of Ministers adopted two important Recommendations.

The first, on human rights and the environment, encourages member States to require business enterprises to apply human rights due diligence throughout their operations related to the environment.

The second, on preventing and combatting trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation – this recommendation encourages member States to provide guidance and tools for business on how to lower the risks of being involved directly or indirectly in such trafficking.

We share a sense of pride in the acquis of our Organisation on human rights and business.

We are also exploring ways in which the Organisation can engage with other actors on issues of human rights and environment and business.

These include independent human rights institutions, civil society and, in fact, also business enterprises themselves. This workshop will also examine better, closer engagement of the Council of Europe with business.

The Organisation has already engaged with private actors in the field of cyber justice, artificial intelligence, hate crime, sports, etc. The Organisation is working to make its expertise available to the private sector and this has been welcomed. We hope to widen this cooperation.

Human rights and the Rule of Law have been critical in making our member states more resilient and have contributed to the prosperity and well-being of their citizens.

The Council of Europe’s role has been instrumental in turning human rights and the rule of law into competitive advantages for its member states.

With this same logic, human rights can also serve as a competitive advantage for businesses if incorporated into economic models.

Turning human rights from a cost to an investment is the spirit in which we can ensure that they are fully respected by businesses.

At the same time, we would like to be able to do more to promote the implementation of our standards by our member States.

Last year, the CDDH carried out a review of the implementation of the Recommendation on Human Rights and Business.  

Considerable efforts have been undertaken is some member States to assist and encourage business to reinforce its action on respect for human rights, for example through information portals, training, or providing general or sectorial guidelines on due diligence.

Several member States have included human rights due diligence in their public procurement processes.

As regards access to non-judicial grievance mechanisms, in most of the member States this role is attached to National Contact Points which have been established under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

The National Contact Points can receive complaints and offer mediation services that can lead to redress, but their mandates do not allow them to provide redress. Their institutional structure, funding, or support for victims differ significantly from country to country.

The NHRIs contribute to non-judicial resolution of human rights complaints in some member States.

They provide expertise and offer advice to victims of human rights violations on possible remedies.

NHRIs also investigate complaints, offer conciliation services and make recommendations to the authorities on adaptations of legislation and administrative practices.

Some member States highlighted good practices related to internal complaint mechanisms that business put in place to ensure health protection and to counter harassment and discrimination.

However, many member States did not provide input to the CDDH’s review.

I hope that you will be able to exchange ideas on how to carry out your next review on the implementation of the Recommendation on Human Rights and Business.

Its results would be relevant not only in their own right, but also by helping us to design and implement targeted projects to assist our member States.

I hope that this workshop will raise awareness amongst our member States of the potential of the Platform on Human Rights and Business that was established under the Committee of Ministers’ recommendation.

Its raison d’être was the sharing of good practices related to the implementation of the Recommendation on Human Rights and Business.

This tool was based on information voluntarily provided by member States.

I would like to invite you to reflect on how to maintain the Platform and make it even more useful for you.    

As the European Union begins putting in place mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, could the Platform prove itself to be a relevant source of information on these issues to our member States? 

I am sure that this workshop will provide stimulating food for thought on this and other important questions.

I wish you fruitful discussions.

Thank you for your attention!