The RBC wg [Responsible Business Conduct Working Group of the European Parliament] launched a Shadow EU Action Plan on Business and Human Rights on the 19 March.

This Shadow EU Action Plan is a signal to the European Commission and the Council of the European Union that time is ripe for the EU to put systematic and effective measures in place implementing the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs)...

The EU endorsed the UNGPs in 2011... Fourteen Member States have developed National Action Plans since then...

The EU in contrast has so far failed to do so.

It is urgent time for the EU... to take action. The EU is the world’s largest economy, a trading hub with significant economic and political power to influence the regulation of economic operations worldwide.

The EU and its member states are also increasingly subsidizing European companies operating in developing and neighbouring countries. It therefore carries a particular responsibility to prove leadership in the promotion and protection of human rights against business-related human rights abuses.