35 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2018/2656(RSP)
Amendment 12 #
Citation 14 d (new)
– having regard to the ILO Tripartite declaration of principles concerning multinational enterprises and social policy, revised in 2017,
Amendment 15 #
Citation 14 a (new)
– having regard to the Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters,
Amendment 16 #
Citation 14 b (new)
– having regard to the Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups Text with EEA relevance,
Amendment 17 #
Citation 14 c (new)
– having regard to the Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict- affected and high-risk areas,
Amendment 19 #
Citation 16 a (new)
– having regard to the Council Conclusions on Business and Human Rights adopted on 20 June 2016,
Amendment 35 #
Citation 27 a (new)
– having regard to the International People’s Treaty process launched by the Global Campaign, a campaign which gather several CSOs which emerged in 2012 at the Rio+20 People’s Summit,
Amendment 41 #
Recital A
A. whereas the EU is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights; and whereas its action on the international scene (including its development and trade policies) shall be guided by these principles; whereas according to article 208 of the TFUE the principle of policy coherence for development shall be respected in all EUs external action;
Amendment 48 #
Recital B
B. whereas development should go hand-in-hand with social justice and good governance, and whereas sustainable development, trade and human rights can have an impact on each other and may reinforce each other;
Amendment 64 #
Recital D
D. whereas States should set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human and environmental rights throughout their operations, including the operations of their subsidiaries, controlled companies and entities in their supply chain worldwide;
Amendment 69 #
Recital E
E. whereas the United Nation Guiding Principles (UNGPs) apply to all States and to all business enterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership and structure and are grounded in recognition of the following: States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms; the role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights; and the need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached;
Amendment 73 #
Recital F
F. whereas the UN Global Compact and UNGPs asks corporations to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and the fight against corruption, making a commitment to those values and integrating them into their business operations on a voluntary basis; whereas repeatedly the companies that have adopted self-regulatory policies have been involved in human rights abuses;
Amendment 76 #
Recital G
G. whereas corporations are one of the major players in economic globalisation, financial services and international trade and are required to comply with all applicable laws and international treaties in force, and to respect human rights; whereas these business enterprises may at times cause, or contribute to human rights violations, and whereas they may also have an important role to play in offering positive incentives in terms of promoting human rights, democracy, environmental standards and corporate social responsibilityenvironmental damages;
Amendment 83 #
Recital H
Amendment 90 #
Recital K b (new)
Kb. whereas in the recent years, European States as well as the EU haves started to consider and adopt legislation to enhance corporate accountability and embed elements of Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) into legislation, including the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation, the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFR), the Timber Regulation (EUTR), the UK Modern Slavery Act, the France duty of vigilance law, the Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence Law, the Swiss Responsible Business Initiative, or the German and Italian National Action Plans to implement the UNGPs;
Amendment 91 #
Recital H a (new)
Amendment 97 #
Recital I
I. whereas a global holistic approach to corporate liability for human rights violations is still lacking, and whereas victims of human rights violations involving multitransnational companies face multiple obstacles to accessing remedies, including judicial remedies and guarantees of non-repetition; whereas an holistic approach would provide legal certainty to both, business and people, in the context of the proliferation of national due diligence initiatives;
Amendment 99 #
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas gender inequality implies that women are often particularly vulnerable to human rights violations, and face special burdens when seeking access to remedy;
Amendment 103 #
Recital K
K. whereas a system of corporate liability for human rights violations is currently being negotiated in the UN within the UNHRCs open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIGWG)established by the UN GA in 2014;
Amendment 106 #
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas both, the EU and its Member States, play a role at the OEIGWG; whereas there is not an authorisation set by the Council to the Commission to conduct negotiations on behalf of the European Community concerning its participation in the OEIGWG;
Amendment 112 #
Paragraph 2
2. Firmly believes that the private sector, isf properly regulated, could be an important partner in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in mobilising additional resources for development; stresses that, given their increasing role in development cooperation, private sector actors must align with internationally agreed development effectiveness principles (ownership, alignment, harmonisation and mutual democratic accountability) and abide by the principles of corporate accountability throughout the whole lifecycle of projects;
Amendment 123 #
Paragraph 3
3. Strongly supports the full implementation of the UNGPs, and calls on the EU and Member States to elaborate and adopt an EU, respectively ambitious and operative national action plans for the swift, effective and comprehensive implementation of the said Principles; recalls that the UNGPs can be complemented with parallel binding initiatives to cover their shortcomings;
Amendment 128 #
Paragraph 4
4. Considers it regrettable that a global approach to the way in which transnational corporations abide by human rights law is still lacking, which may contribute to transnational corporations’ impunity for cases of human rights violations and thus detrimental to people’s rights and dignity;
Amendment 137 #
Paragraph 5
5. Reaffirms the urgent need to act in an effective and coherent manner at all levels, including national, European and international, in order to effectively address human rights violations by transnational corporations, to address legal problems resulting from the extra- territorial dimension of transnational companies, the growing complexity of global value chains and the related uncertainty as to where liability for human rights violations lies;
Amendment 145 #
Paragraph 6
6. Considers it necessary to establish primacy of human rights in international law through a clear system whereby human rights obligations take precedence over other types of conflicting obligations; insists that this is essential for overcoming globalisation imbalances and to put people’s rights and the planet first;
Amendment 151 #
Paragraph 7
7. Warmly welcomes in this context the work initiated in the United Nations through the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG)UNHRCs OEIGWG to create an internationally legally binding instrument to create a binding UN instrumentgulate, in international human rights law the activities onf transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights and considers this to be a step forward in the promotion and protection of human rights;
Amendment 156 #
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the UN Member States to protect the negotiations from commercial and other vested interests, following the example of the World Health Organization (WHO) and article 5.3 of the UN Framework Convention to Tobacco Control (UNFCTC) ;including strong ethics rules to prevent conflicts of interest and unethical lobbying, and requiring full transparency over industry interactions with parties to the negotiations ;
Amendment 157 #
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12c. Is of the opinion that the new instrument shall impose on States the obligation to adopt regulatory measures requiring companies to apply human rights due diligence policies and procedures, and proposes to enforce this obligation by the means of companies being accountable in either the forum where the harm was caused, or the forum where the parent company is incorporated or where it has a substantial presence;
Amendment 162 #
Paragraph 8
8. Regrets any obstructive behaviour in relation to this process and to the sessions of the OEIGWG;
Amendment 166 #
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that Parliament voiced its unequivocal support to this multilateral OEIGWG process in eight different resolutionmultiple resolutions and considers a crucial step for establishing the primacy of human rights over private profit, and in order to balance international trade imbalances;
Amendment 171 #
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the importance of the EU being actively involved in this intergovernmental process through the creation of a working group including all the relevant departments of the Commission, EEAS, Cohom and European Parliament involved Committees;
Amendment 173 #
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates once more its call on the EU and Member States to engage genuinely and constructively in these negotiationsaiming to the consecution of the OEIGWG’s mandate;
Amendment 178 #
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Highlights the paramount importance of the EU constructively contributing to the achievement of an effective Binding Treaty to effectively address corporate liability for human rights violations and related challenges;
Amendment 182 #
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the UN Member States to ensure that the negotiations leading to the treaty are conducted in a transparent and consultative manner with a broad range of rights-holders potentially impacted by the treaty including civil society organizations and victim platforms; calls on the EU and Member States to mainstream a meaningful gender approach in their negotiating position;
Amendment 183 #
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Is of the opinion that States must establish legal liability of TNCs and OBEs in administrative, civil and criminal fields, including the legal liability of natural persons who are in charge in the moment in which the violation occurs; and covering due diligence obligations with respect to the activities of subsidiaries, subcontractors and other enterprises under their control acting abroad; Stresses the need of the foreseen instrument having implementation mechanisms at both, national and international level, to ensure the enforceability of its provisions;
Amendment 186 #
Paragraph 14
14. Decides to continue to closely follow the OEIGWG negotiations process;