France

By Daniel Morris | 27. November 2017

I. The State Obligation to Protect Human Rights

The International Framework [pages 12-15]

United Nations

France also chairs the Group of Friends of Paragraph 47 of the Rio+20 Declaration. This group promotes sustainable development reporting to better ensure that economic actors respect social, environmental, good governance and human rights standards. This group successfully advocated for reporting to be reinforced and extended to all SDGs.

International Labour Organization

France is one of ILO’s more active members and has a permanent seat on the organisation’s Governing Body. It adheres to and promotes the Decent Work Agenda, and fully supports the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (the MNE Declaration). The country has signed a four-year partnership agreement with the International Labour Office, which involves implementing CSR initiatives and contributing to the Better Work Programme.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

France finances actions supporting the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. It is also very active in the working group developing a guide for the textile industry, following the recommendations of its NCP in this field.

International Organisation for Standarization (ISO)

France actively contributed to work completed by ISO which resulted in the adoption of the ISO 26000 standard on social responsibility for businesses and organisations. This standard seeks to promote a common understanding of social responsibility, but cannot be used for certification. The ISO 26000 standard deals with seven core subjects, one of which is human rights.

The European Framework

France supported the adoption of a resolution on human rights and business in 2010. In early 2013, the Committee of Ministers recommended that a political declaration supporting the UN Guiding Principles be drafted by the end of 2015 along with a non-binding instrument incorporating good practices to bridge gaps in the implementation of the Guiding Principles in Europe.

European Union

France has played an important role in ensuring that these issues are high on the European agenda, particularly with respect to the adoption of the European directive on binding non-financial reporting, which France actively supported during negotiations.5 It also promoted the inclusion of social, environmental and governance standards in trade and investment agreements (see section 8 below). It helped to ensure that the conclusions of the Council of the EU under the Dutch Presidency were adopted, supporting the enforcement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and their integration into development policy

Proposal for Action No.1 [page 16]

Actions Underway

  • France is participating in work carried out by the UN intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, which has been mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument, subject to the integration of parameters defined with our European Union partners, in order to ensure that the process respects the unanimity and integrity of the UN Guiding Principles (applicability to all businesses, consultation with businesses and integration of UN Guiding Principles).
  • Working with the Group of Friends of Paragraph 47 of the Rio+20 Declaration, France supports the reinforcement of reporting requirements in the environmental, social and governance fields, especially with respect to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted on 25 September 2015.
  • France encourages States to ratify and apply ILO conventions, especially fundamental conventions, by making full use of the supervisory system.
  • France seeks to ensure that the issues of decent work, occupational health and safety and supply chains are addressed by the G20, particularly by working with Germany, whose presidency runs from 2016 to 2017. It also seeks to build on the G7’s commitments to the UN Guiding Principles in 2015, as well as commitments made during the International Labour Conference in June 2016, one of the three themes of which was “decent work in global supply chains”.
  • France actively contributes to OECD activities in the field of responsible business conduct, particularly its work on due diligence (in the textile and finance sectors) and reinforcing the OECD Guidelines to mark their 40th anniversary (from June 2016 onwards). – France supports the implementation of the ICESCR, in particular in the economic and technical fields, through national efforts and international assistance and cooperation.
  • Actions to be implemented
  • Work to enhance cooperation between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and ILO to better integrate international social standards on responsible production processes and methods (for example, targeting child labour and forced labour), in order to promote a level playing field that takes into account existing frameworks and regulations.

Proposals for Action No. 2 [page 17]

Actions Underway

  • France has made human rights a requirement in non-financial reporting following the transposition of European 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.