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NAP Development Process

Status

Luxembourg's nap 2020 2022

On 23 January 2020, Luxembourg announced the adoption of a second edition of the National Action Plan titled “Plan d’action national du Luxembourg pour la mise en oeuvre des Principes directeurs des Nations Unies relatifs aux entreprises et aux droits de l’homme 2020-2022”.  Given the time constraints encountered during the implementation of the first NAP, the second NAP foresees for a possibility that it is extended for an additional year beyond the initial two-year timeframe. This second edition of the National Action Plan was meant to complement the first National Action Plan. More information about the second NAP edition is available here in French.

The 2020-22 NAP states the second edition of the National Action Plan complements the first NAP. Additional information about the first NAP can be found here.

Process

The development process of this second NAP edition has been led by the Business and Human Rights Working Group (groupe de travail « Entreprises et droits de l’Homme »), which is composed by representatives of the relevant ministries, private companies, private sector trade associations, national human rights institutions, trade unions, civil society and academia (see section on “stakeholder participation”). The Working Group started its activity in April 2018 amidst the development of the first National Action Plan.

According to the 2020-22 NAP, following the adoption of the first NAP, the Working Group met on a regular basis, every six weeks, to implement the concrete actions outlined in the Joint Work Program included in the National Action Plan. The Working Group assessed the results of the implementation of the first action plan in a report submitted to the Government Council on July 18, 2019 and approved in the session of July 26, 2019. The report has not been made publicly available but the NAP lists some of its content:

  • a structured and ongoing dialogue on the subject of “Business and Human Rights” between the relevant stakeholders,
  • an academic study on the existing situation in Luxembourg regarding business and human rights find more information on the National Baseline Assessment section),
  • efforts to raise awareness among decision-makers, business leaders and the legal sector on the theme of “Business and Human Rights”, in particular the following (further information about the following three events can be found here):

 

  • the conference organised in June 2019 by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the University of Luxembourg, with the participation of high-level international experts,
  • the conference organized by the Ministry of Economy, UEL (Luxembourg’s Business Association, Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises) and INDR (National Institute for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility, Institut National pour le Développement durable et de la Responsabilité sociale des entreprises) in October 2019, at the Chamber of Commerce,

  • of the “Business and Human Rights” segment at the annual Congress of the Union Internationale des Avocats in November 2019, in Luxembourg,

 

  • training sessions offered by INDR (National Institute for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility, Institut National pour le Développement durable et de la Responsabilité sociale des entreprises) and the House of Training, Finance and Human Rights asbl, ABBL (the Luxembourg’s Bankers Association), IMS (Inspiring More Sustainability) and some civil society organizations;
  • awareness-raising for the governance structures of companies in which the State is the main shareholder; and,
  • the preparation and development of a national “Business and Human Rights” Pact in which business leaders publicly declare their commitment to uphold the UN Guiding Principles within their organization and throughout their economic value chain.

After the report was approved by the Government Council, the Working Group began the preparation of the draft for the second edition of the National Action Plan, which had to be submitted before the end of 2019 to the Government Council. According to the 2020-22 NAP, the second edition of the National Action Plan aimed at complementing the first NAP to avoid duplication and to allow recommendations to be formulated in a more operational manner. The draft of the second National Action Plan was developed between September and December 2019, alongside five meetings of the Business and Human Rights Working Group.

The report which assesses the implementation of the first NAP is not publicly accessible. Yet, some lessons learned have been included in the 2020-22 NAP such as the time available for the parallel realisation of thirteen initiatives being too short and the amount of work involved was underestimated. Moreover, at the conference organised in June 2019 by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the University of Luxembourg high-level international experts urged Luxembourg to apply the SMART method to define its action points. Based on the lessons learned by the group members during the implementation of the first National Action Plan and the recommendations of international experts, including the findings of the National Baseline Assessment, Luxembourg expected the second National Action Plan to be characterised by:

  • A broad sensitization of companies, notably by giving them the necessary resources and encouraging them to sign the National Pact “Companies and Human Rights”, 

  • a more sector-specific approach, taking into account international recommendations and solutions (e.g. Responsible Steel, Responsible Mining, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy) and support to companies by sectoral professional organizations,
  • the identification of priority actions,
  • the definition of specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound objectives,
  • a three-year implementation period.

Stakeholder Participation

According to the NAP, following the adoption of the first National Action Plan, the Business and Human Rights Working Group (groupe de travail « Entreprises et droits de l’Homme ») met on a regular basis, every six weeks, to implement the concrete actions outlined in the Joint Work Program included in the National Action Plan. The Ambassador for Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs convened and facilitated this thematic working group, which is composed by the following:

 

Representatives of the relevant ministries

  • Ministry of State [Ministère d’Etat]
  • Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs [Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes]
  • Ministry of Economy [Ministère de l’Economie]
  • Ministry of Finance [Ministère des Finances]
  • Ministry of Justice [Ministère de la Justice]
  • Data Protection National Commission [Commission nationale de la protection des données]

Private companies

  • Union des entreprises luxembourgeoises (Main Business Association)
  • INDR
  • ALFI
  • ABBL
  • BGL-BNP-Paribas
  • Etude Turk & Prum
  • Bourse de Luxembourg (Luxembourg’s Stock Exchange)
  • PwC Luxembourg
  • LuxFLAG
  • IMS

Private sector trade associations, national human rights institutions, trade unions, civil society and academia:

  • Commission consultative des droits de l’homme
  • Ombudsman fir Kanner a Jugendlecher
  • Centre d’égalité de traitement
  • Médiateur
  • Initiative pour un devoir de vigilance
  • ASTM
  • ALNU
  • Amnesty International (Lux)
  • Caritas
  • Fairtrade Lëtzebuerg
  • Finance & Human Rights
  • Handicap International
  • Ligue des droits de l’homme
  • Unicef (Lux)
  • ULC [Union Luxembourgeoise des Consommateurs] (Consumer Association)
  • Employee’s Chamber [Chambre des salariés]
  • OGBL (Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation)
  • LCGB (Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions)
  • University of Luxembourg (Faculté de droit, d’économie et de Finance)

According to the Government Council, the idea behind this mode of operation was to bring together as much expertise and experience as possible from all stakeholders likely to be interested or concerned by a subject as multifaceted as the relationship between business and human rights. The activity of the the Business and Human Rights Working Group (groupe de travail « Entreprises et droits de l’Homme ») is published here.

Many of the initiatives set out in the Joint Work Programme have been started or even completed. Others have experienced delays and are moving into the next implementation period of the UN Guidelines in Luxembourg.

Transparency

The working group was in charge of the preparation and development of the draft for the second edition of the National Action Plan but this draft is not publicly available. The second edition of the National Action Plan “Business and Human Rights” is available in French, in printed form and accessible on the Internet. No English version has been made publicly available yet. The possibility of accessing the National Action Plan via the website guichet.lu was being studied at the time the NAP was launched.

The Business and Human Rights Working Group (groupe de travail « Entreprises et droits de l’Homme ») also assessed the results of the implementation of the first action plan in a report submitted to the Government Council on July 18, 2019 and approved in the session of July 26, 2019. The report has not been made publicly available but the activity of the Working Group is published here.

National Baseline Assessment (NBA)

A National Baseline Assessment titled “Mapping the Business and Human Rights Landscape in Luxembourg” was conducted by Dr. Basak Baglayan, PhD, of the University of Luxembourg as part of the implementation of the first National Action Plan. The findings of the study to a large extent provide the starting points for the different actions identified as priorities for the implementation period of the second edition of the National Action Plan “Business and Human Rights” of Luxembourg; the objective being to achieve significant progress in the respect of human rights within companies and along their economic value chains. In particular, the study revealed a certain potential risk of negative impact of economic activities on human rights in the financial sector, the service sector, the information and communication technology sector (including the field of artificial intelligence and data protection) the hotel and restaurant sector, the textile sector, the agribusiness sector, the extractive sector, the logistical sector (including land, air and sea transport in all its aspects) and the construction sector.

Follow-up, monitoring, reporting and review

Following the adoption of the first National Action Plan in June 2018, the Business and Human Rights Working Group (groupe de travail « Entreprises et droits de l’Homme ») met on a regular basis every six weeks, to implement the concrete actions outlined in the Joint Work Program included in the first National Action Plan. The working group was in charge of the preparation and development of the draft for the second edition of the National Action Plan and its subsequent submission to the Government Council.

Likewise, the Business and Human Rights Working Group, under the authority of the Interministerial Committee on Human Rights, is responsible for the follow-up to the second National Action Plan, for reporting annually to the Government Council and for preparing in due course the draft of Luxembourg’s third National Action Plan for the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Stakeholders views and analysis on the NAP

 






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