Why does the European Union fear a binding human rights treaty on transnational corporations?

Friends of the Earth International criticizes the European Union for delaying and derailing UN negotiations for a binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations. While civil society and some European nations push for corporate accountability and legal obligations across supply chains, the EU is accused of attempting to reduce the working group's mandate and favoring voluntary mechanisms over binding law.

• The European Union has been obstructive toward the UN intergovernmental working group's efforts to create a binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations, including failing to attend opening negotiations in 2015 and later attempting to reduce the working group's mandate to potentially water down the treaty into a voluntary amendment of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
• Friends of the Earth International identifies several essential components for an effective binding instrument: corporate liability for violations, transparency in supply chains to prevent companies from avoiding responsibility, the primacy of human rights over trade agreements, and the creation of an international human rights court for those lacking national access to justice.
• Despite the EU's block position, some individual European states, specifically France and Switzerland, are seeing developments in national legislation to establish legal obligations for corporations to prevent human rights and environmental abuses throughout their supply chains.

APA

admin (2018). Why does the European Union fear a binding human rights treaty on transnational corporations? Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/why-does-the-european-union-fear-a-binding-human-rights-treaty-on-transnational-corporations/

Chicago

admin. Why does the European Union fear a binding human rights treaty on transnational corporations? Friends of the Earth International, 2018. https://www.foei.org/why-does-the-european-union-fear-a-binding-human-rights-treaty-on-transnational-corporations/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Why does the European Union fear a binding human rights treaty on transnational corporations? |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=11 July 2018 |url=https://www.foei.org/why-does-the-european-union-fear-a-binding-human-rights-treaty-on-transnational-corporations/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2018why, author = {admin}, title = {{Why does the European Union fear a binding human rights treaty on transnational corporations?}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.foei.org/why-does-the-european-union-fear-a-binding-human-rights-treaty-on-transnational-corporations/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }