Activities of Harlem DÉSIR related to 2009/2201(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Corporate social responsibility in international trade agreements (A7-0317/2010, Harlem Désir) (vote)
Reports (1)
REPORT on corporate social responsibility in international trade agreements PDF (240 KB) DOC (136 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Title
Title
Corporate social and environmental responsibility in international trade agreements
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
- having regard to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launched in 19971 and, the updated G3 Guidelines concerning the drafting of reports on sustainable development, published on 5 October 2006, and the G4 Guidelines currently being drawn up by the GRI,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10
Citation 10
- having regard to the report by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, entitled '‘Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development'’, of 7 April 2008 (A/HRC/8/5, 2008), and the ongoing work on the next report planned for 2011,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13
Citation 13
- having regard to the initiatives taken in the various Member States to promote Corporate Social Responsibility, in particular the establishment in Denmark of the Government CSR Centre, which coordinates governmental legislative initiatives to foster CSR and devises practical tools for undertakings21,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18
Citation 18
- having regard to the 1968 Brussels Convention, as consolidated by Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters31, and the Commission Green Paper of 21 April 2009 on the revision of Regulation (EC) No 44/2001,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 36
Citation 36
- having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2001 on openness and democracy in international trade2, which calls on the WTO to endorse the ILO's basic labour standards and to accept ILO decisions, including calls for the imposition of sanctions, linked to serious violations of basiccore labour standards,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. having regard to the ILO's tripartite declaration on multinational corporations, which is intended to provide guidance for governments, multinational corporations and workers in areas such as employment, training, working conditions and professional relations, a declaration which incorporates a commitment by States to abide by and promote the four basiccore labour standards: freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced labour; the abolition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in the area of employment,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. having regard to the United Nations Global Compact, which incorporates 10 principles which multinational corporations must undertake to observe in the areas of human rights, basiccore labour standards, a precautionary approach to environmental problems and the fight against corruption,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. having regard to the work currently in progress to update the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, in particular those relating to improving the national contact points and a liability regime for supply chains,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas international benchmarks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative, or certification and labelling schemes, such as the ISO 14 001 standard or more particularly the recent ISO 26 000 standard, designed as a set of guidelines applying to all types of organisation, help undertakings assess the economic, social and environmental impact of their activities by incorporating the concept of sustainable development, but whereas they are only effective to the extent that they are effectively applied and subject to verification,
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. having regard to the definition of CSR in the ISO 26 000 standard as ‘the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behaviour that: contributes to sustainable development, including the health and welfare of society; takes into account the expectations of stakeholders; is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour; and is integrated throughout the organisation and practised in its relationships’, which has the support of a large section of civil society and the international trade union movement,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. having regard to the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a retail market monitoring report entitled ‘Towards more efficient and fairer retail services in the internal market for 2020’ (COM(2010)355 final) and the annex thereto, which states that ‘... it is often difficult for consumers to know about the social responsibility of particular retailers and thus to make an informed choice about where to shop’,
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. having regard to the wide diversity of links which can exist between a parent company and its subsidiaries on the one hand, and between an undertaking and its suppliers on the other, and to the need to specify the notions of ‘sphere of influence’ and ‘due diligence’ at international level,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas undertakings are not directly subject to international law and whereas international agreements, particularly those relating to human rights, labour law and environmental protection, are binding on the signatory States but not directly on the undertakings whose head office is based in those States; whereas, however, it is up to those States to ensure that undertakings whose head office is based in their territory comply with their legal obligations and duty of diligence, and provide for adequate and appropriate sanctions should they fail to do so,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J c (new)
Recital J c (new)
Jc. having regard to the fundamental rights to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, reaffirmed in Article 47 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and in Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J d (new)
Recital J d (new)
Jd. having regard to the principle of judicial cooperation reaffirmed by the Brussels Convention and Regulation No 44/2001, and calling on the Commission to act on the progress made in the Green Paper, which proposes possible lines of action on the question of extra-territoriality, particularly in terms of expanding the scope of the Regulation to include disputes involving third-State defendants,
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that the principles underpinning CSR, which are fully recognised at international level, whether by the OECD, the ILO or the United Nations, concern the responsible behaviour expected of undertakings, and presuppose, first of all, compliance with the legislation in force, in particular in the areas of employment, labour relations, human rights, the environment, consumer interests and transparency vis-à-vis consumers, the fight against corruption and taxation;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers that the Commission should investigate the possibilities of establishing a harmonised definition of the relations between an undertaking designated the ‘parent company’ and all undertakings in a relationship of dependency with respect to that company, whether those undertakings are subsidiaries, suppliers or sub-contractors, in order to establish the legal liability of each of them;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls for CSR principles and obligations to be taken into account and integrated into the future Commission communication on ‘A New Trade Policy for Europe under the EUROPE 2020 Strategy', in the communication on CSR which it is drawing up for 2011 and in the implementation of its trade policy;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to draw up a new impact assessment model with a view to ensuring that, both prior to and after the signing of a trade agreement, States which commit themselves to cooperating with the European Union properly comply with their obligations in the areas of human rights, basiccore labour standards and environmental protection; calls, further, for assessments to be carried out of the social and environmental impact of trade agreements in the EU's partner countries and in those countries' vulnerable sectors; such assessments should also be carried out prior to the signing and after implementation of agreements;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 point b
Paragraph 12 point b
b. incentives to encourage undertakings to enter into CSR commitments negotiated with all their stakeholders, including the trade unions, consumer organisations and, local authorities and civil society organisations concerned;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 point d
Paragraph 12 point d
d. a requirement on the part of undertakings and, groups of undertakings and undertakings within the sphere of influence of ‘parent companies’ to comply with rules on transparency and reporting, i.e. the annual publication of their CSR balance sheets based on overall, common and predefined performance indicators; this information must be subsequently verifiable by an independent body;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 point f
Paragraph 12 point f
f. a review mechanism to deal with proven breaches of the CSR commitments entered into in the context of the trade agreement; it must be possible for investigations to be carried out by the competent authorities of the two parties, and also by independent experts, along the lines of the investigations conducted as part of ILO programmes52 in cooperation with representatives of civil society; in the event of a serious breach of the commitments, the parties could name and shame those responsible and call for the imposition of proportionate trade sanctions; 1 Such as the Better Factories Cambodia programme (http://www.betterfactories.org/) 2 Such as the Better Factories Cambodia programme (http://www.betterfactories.org/)
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 point g a (new)
Paragraph 12 point g a (new)
ga. a requirement, where arbitration or any other method of alternative dispute resolution is used, on the persons or organisations called upon to find a resolution to integrate the body of international agreements on environmental protection and fundamental rights into their decision- making. Provided that the parties to a dispute produce relevant evidence as clarification for the arbitrators, those arbitrators should be required to accept their submissions, in particular those made as amicus curiae contributions, and to take that evidence into consideration in their decision, explaining, where applicable, the reasons for rejecting it;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Advocates once again the establishment within the WTO of a Trade and Decent Work Committee, along the lines of the Trade and DevelopEnvironment Committee, which would provide a forum for the discussion, in particular, of the issues of labour standards and CSR as they relate to international trade; proposes once again a revision of the dispute settlement procedure, so that in cases involving possible breaches of international environmental or labour agreements special groups (panels) or the appeal body can ask the competent international organisations to draw up opinions, which would then be published;