The EU as a leading global actor in Business and Human Rights: Towards a coherent policy framework

Project Information

BHR_EU

Grant agreement ID: 843115

DOI

10.3030/843115

Project closed

EC signature date 16 April 2019

Start date 16 September 2019

End date 15 September 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 175 572,48

EU contribution

€ 175 572,48

Coordinated by

WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BHR_EU (The EU as a leading global actor in Business and Human Rights: Towards a coherent policy framework)

Reporting period: 2019-09-16 to 2021-09-15

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

While assuming a global leading role in the field of business and human rights (BHR), the EU has done so through a piecemeal approach through sector- or issue-specific legislation without the umbrella of a coherent BHR policy framework. Working towards the adoption of a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (DCSDD), the EU had the opportunity to take up the role of coordination and harmonization recommended by the Fundamental Rights Agency on issues like due diligence obligations and access to remedy. all the more important in what is arguably a unique historical moment characterized by a strong momentum, both at the EU and at the Member State level, for regulatory advancements in the BHR field.

The project aimed at helping the EU shape a coherent and effective BHR policy framework addressing persisting governance gaps. It purported to (i) identify persisting gap in the EU BHR agenda, (ii) assessing EU policies against the EU’s fundamental and human rights obligations, (iii) look at the coherence of relevant EU policies in relevant fields, (iv) make proposals for the strengthening of the EU BHR policy framework.
Finally, the project included a career development objective for the researcher, aimed at strengthening her expertise and raising her international profile as BHR scholar.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed in the project years can be categorized as: research activity; dissemination activities; teaching at the host institution. The results of such work consist of:
1. Publications
2. Webinars and presentations
3. Consultancy reports on the themes of the project
4. Re-design and delivery of two academic courses
5. Full integration into the Law Group at WUR
6. Other career development achievements.

1. Publications:

Peer-reviewed academic publications published in Gold Open Access in internationally renowned journals:

- (P1) C. Macchi, ‘With trade comes responsibility: the external reach of the EU’s fundamental rights obligations’, 11(4) Transnational Legal Theory (2020) 409 (2 citations to date).
- (P2) C. Macchi, ‘The Climate Change Dimension of Business and Human Rights: The Gradual Consolidation of a Concept of ‘Climate Due Diligence’’, 6(1) Business and Human Rights Journal (2021) 93. (9 citations to date);
- (P3) C. Macchi, N. Bernaz, ‘Business, Human Rights and Climate Due Diligence: Understanding the Responsibility of Banks’, 13(15) Sustainability (2021) 8391.
- (P4) C. Macchi, ‘A Glass Half Full: Critical Assessment of EU Regulation 2017/821 on Conflict Minerals’, Journal of Human Rights Practice (2022) https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huab027.


2. Dissemination:
In the course of the project, I have presented its interim results at:

- ESIL-CLEER Workshop ‘EU Trade Agreements and the Duty to Respect Human Rights Abroad’.
Asser Institute, 2019
- 6th Global Business and Human Rights Conference (online), Universidad de Monterrey, 2020.
- Council of Europe - Workshop ‘Environment, Human Rights and Business: A framework for addressing environmental protection challenges’, 2021.
- British Institute of International and Comparative Law - Webinar series: HRDD for Climate Change Impacts (Episode 3): ‘Mandatory human rights due diligence laws: what are their implications regarding corporate climate change impacts?’, 2021.
- Lectures at NOVA School of Law, Lisbon, and at University of Lund, 2021.

After the project’s end:
- 2022 Annual Conference of the Netherlands Institute for Law and Governance, Title: ‘Business, Human and the Living Environment’ (co-organizer).
- ‘Rapid Reaction Seminar’ on the Commission’s proposal for a DCSDD, March 2022 (co-organizer).

3. Consultancy reports on the themes of the project

- D. Augenstein, C. Macchi, ‘The Role of Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Legislation in the Protection Women Migrant Workers in Global Food Supply Chains’ (2021), for Oxfam Germany and Action Aid France.
- European Law Institute report: ‘Business and Human Rights: Access to Justice and Effective Remedies’ (2022), Project Team member.

4. Re-design and delivery of two academic courses (with Dr. Bernaz)

- Course Business, Human Rights and the Environment, Wageningen University;
- Business and Human Rights, Université Catholique de Lille.

5. Full integration into the Law Group at Wageningen University
The project has allowed me to be fully integrated into the host institution, the Law Group at WUR, where I am still employed.

I have co-authored the following publications with colleagues of the Law Group:
- H. Schebesta, N. Bernaz, C. Macchi, ‘The European Union Farm to Fork Strategy: Sustainability and Responsible Business in the Food Supply Chain’, 15(5) European Food and Feed Law Review (2020) 420.
- C. Macchi, J. van Zeben, ‘Business and human rights implications of climate change litigation: Milieudefensie et al. v Royal Dutch Shell’, 30(3) RECIEL (2021) 409.

I am also Dissemination and Outreach Coordinator for the Law Group.

6. Other career development achievements

In the two years of the project, I have achieved full integration, including in leadership roles, into the Dutch and European BHR scholarly community. In particular, I have assumed the following roles:
- Co-chair of the Business & Human Rights Working Group of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights
Research
- Member of the Governance Committee of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum - Columbia
University
- Assistant Editor, Transnational Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press
- Successful Horizon2020 grant application ‘REBALANCE’, led by the University of Pisa (an institution with which I had ongoing collaborations), and focusing on the role of business actors in disrupting or facilitating democratic processes.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project has advanced the academic BHR literature in at least three ways:

- A re-conceptualization of the duty of EU institutions to ensure coherence between its policies in the fields of trade, investment, and internal market and the EU’s fundamental rights obligations. This entailed adopting a functionalist approach to EU’s fundamental rights obligations, and exploring whether such obligations extend beyond the EU’s external borders and which positive obligations, if any, they entail.
- A holistic approach to human rights due diligence, bridging two fields of studies that had remained fundamentally separated, namely BHR and environmental law and climate change studies.
- An assessment of a different type of due diligence legislation in the EU, namely, the sector-specific Regulation on Conflict Minerals, entered into force a few months after the end of my project.

The project results will continue to be relevant to the analysis of the most recent developments in EU law, and particularly to the assessment of the contents of the proposed DCSDD and to the challenges of its implementation.
The project has created contents for academic courses, and facilitated the attraction of a PhD student now working at the Law Group with a thesis on ‘Action and Impact through Business Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation’.
The project has already sparked collaborations beyond the academic field, including the consultancies mentioned above and the invitation by the Council of Europe to contribute to their own debate on corporate responsibility for human rights and environmental impacts.

An image from the project's webpage.