Business and Human Rights Developments in Southern Europe
Jointly organised by Nova School of Law and BIICL
Concept
Various jurisdictions across the world have adopted National Action Plans in Business and Human Rights and have enacted legislations or are discussing legislative initiatives to regulate companies and prevent adverse human rights and environmental impacts. These developments raise important questions about the adequacy of existing norms and their ability to drive change towards responsible business practices. Whilst much of the focus so far has been on a small number of countries seen as 'big players', less attention has turned to jurisdictions in Southern Europe in which important developments are currently occurring.
The aim of this webinar series is to gather scholars, legal practitioners, companies, civil society, government representatives, policy advisers, investors, insurers, and other relevant stakeholders from Southern European jurisdictions in order to provide insights into the current regulatory landscape, and the lessons that can be learn from other jurisdictions. The webinars will be multilingual.
Programme
Episode 1: Business and Human Rights Developments in Portugal
Tuesday 15 September 12:00-13:30
Presentations and recording from Episode 1
Episode 2: Business and Human Rights Developments in Spain
Tuesday 13 October 12:00-13:30
Presentations and recording from Episode 2
Episode 3: Business and Human Rights Developments in Italy
Tuesday 10 November 12:00-13:30
Presentations and recording from Episode 3
Episode 4: Business and Human Rights Developments in Switzerland
Tuesday 15 December 12:00-13:30
Presentations and recording from Episode 4
Episode 5: Business and Human Rights Developments in Greece
Tuesday 12 January 12:00-13:30
Details and recording of Episode 5
Webinars convened by Dr Claire Bright, Assistant Professor and Associate Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights, Nova School of Law and BIICL; Lise Smit, Senior Research Fellow in Business and Human Rights and Director, Human Rights Due Diligence Forum, BIICL; and Irene Pietropaoli, Research Fellow in Business & Human Rights, BIICL.
Series Update
The webinar series on Business and Human Rights Developments in Southern Europe kicked off on the 15th of September 2020.
The keynote speech was delivered by the Vice-president of the European Parliament, Heidi Hautala. In recent years, much of the attention in the business and human rights field has focused overwhelmingly on a small number of Northern European countries, so Hautala welcomed the initiative of the webinar series and its focus on other jurisdictions.
She discussed recent developments at the European level following the announcement by EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders , that the European Commission would introduce a legislative initiative on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence as part of the post-COVID 19 recovery package in 2021. Hautala emphasized that: 'it is now time to move from baby steps to giant strides'.
For the first episode of the webinar series, the spotlight was on Portugal. The panel analysed some of the key findings of the first national survey on Business and Human Rights in Portugal, the current legal landscape in relation to human rights and environmental responsibilities of companies, relevant instances before the Portuguese OECD National Contact Point, as well as taking in practical insights and perspectives from academics, government representatives, NGOs, legal practitioners, trade unions, and business. The next webinars will look at Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Greece. We are already planning follow-up series which will look at the Business and Human Rights Developments in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin American, Asia, and Africa.
