National Assembly, 18 May 2016
Parliamentarians representing […] EU national parliaments [as well as MEPs] met on 18 May 2016 at the National Assembly to debate, in particular, corporate social responsibility (CSR).
With the globalisation of supply chains, the activities of European companies now take place in third countries where, given the norms that are sometimes very far removed from European standards, it may have caused serious damage in the environmental, social or health fields. In order to prevent tragedies such as those of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh and, where applicable, compensate for the serious damage, there is a clear need to respect due diligence and implement a duty of care of European companies with respect to their subsidiaries, subcontractors and suppliers located abroad.
Such a measure is already enshrined in various national legislations as in European law itself. However, referring to the latter, the measure applies only to certain companies in some sensitive sectors. While welcoming these advances, the signatories of this statement consider it urgent to strengthen CSR in European law in a form that will effectively prevent possible damaging consequences of the activity of European companies abroad, including in the field of their reputation. They also recall that an initiative in the same direction was proposed in the framework of the so-called ‘green card’ procedure, to date supported by eight national chambers.
Last, via this statement, the signatories wish to send a message both to the peoples of Europe to assure them of their determination to make a concerted effort at European level and also to the Commission. In the framework of regulated globalisation, they thus intend to encourage the latter to rapidly propose a directive or any other relevant and effective instrument to get European economic players to better respect EU values as regards human rights, social legislation and environmental protection.
Last modified: 18 December 2019
