Conference on Business and Human Rights

On 11 May 2016, decision makers, politicians, business leaders, NGOs, trade unions, and researchers met in Amsterdam to discuss ways to advance the implementation of the Business and Human Rights agenda of the European Union.
The pan-European multi-stakeholder conference was jointly organised by European civil society and the Kingdom of the Netherlands during the Dutch presidency of the EU in spring 2016 to advance the implementation of the Business and Human Rights agenda of the European Union and its member states.
The participants discussed how the European Union can realize its potential to be an international game-changer when it comes to business and human rights. The hosts of the conference published joint conclusions on what steps should be taken next.

In short, EU and Member States should:

• remove legal, procedural, and institutional barriers that prevent victims of business-related human rights abuse from gaining access to judicial remedy in both transnational and domestic cases
• strengthen access to non-judicial remedy
• promote human rights due diligence by the private sector
• honour their human rights commitments including them in the context of public procurement