WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3377/97 by Richard HOWITT to the Commission. Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries
Date: 1997-10-23
Institutions: European Parliament, HOWITT
Subjects: EU control, European undertaking, OECD, civil law, code of conduct, economic rights, environmental law, human rights, social legislation, third country

C 158/94

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 5. 98

Answer

(19 January 1998)

The  Honourable  Member  is  reminded  that  there  is  no  provision  in  the  Treaties  for  the  Council  to  submit  a
proposal  to  the  European  Parliament  for  a  Code  of  Conduct  imposing  obligations  on  European  companies
operating in third countries.

(98/C 158/123)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3377/97

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(23 October 1997)

Subject: Code of Conduct for European companies operating in third countries

In December 196, the European Parliament adopted resolution A4-0400/96 (1) on human rights throughout the
world in 1995/1196 and the Union(cid:146)s human rights policy.

Paragraph  20  calls  on  the  Commission  to  (cid:145)rapidly  submit  a  proposal  on  a  Code  of  Conduct  for  European
companies operating in third countries which obliges them to respect human rights in all their forms (civil, social,
economical, environmental), including mechanisms of control and sanction on the grounds of the existing OECD
proposal(cid:146).

Can the Commission give a progress report on its work on a draft proposal for a Code of Conduct for European
companies operating in third countries?

(1)  OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 161.

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 1997)

The  Organisation  for  economic  cooperation  and  development  (OECD)  provides  guidelines  for  multinational
enterprises,  which  are  a  joint  recommendation  by  participating  governments  to  multinational  enterprises
operating within their jurisdiction. The objective of these guidelines is to help multinational enterprises ensure
that  their  operations  are  in  harmony  with  the  national  policies  of  the  countries  in  which  they  operate.  They
include  recommendations  on,  in  particular,  employment,  industrial  relations,  and  environmental  protection.
These guidelines are part of the OECD Declaration on international investment and multinational enterprises of
21 June 1976, as amended.

In the framework of the negotiations on a multilateral agreement on investment (MAI) it is envisaged that the
guidelines will be annexed to the MAI. Although these guidelines will continue to be non-binding, their status
will  thus  be  enhanced.  In  addition,  a  revision  of  the  guidelines  is  under  consideration.  Furthermore,  it  is
envisaged that the MAI will be an agreement open to accession by non-OECD countries which will enlarge the
number of multinational enterprises covered by the guidelines.

The  Commission  considers  this  to  be  an  effective  approach.  Thus,  as  the  Community  as  such  is  expected  to
become a contracting party to the MAI, there is no need to work on a separate European code of conduct for the
time being.

(98/C 158/124)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3382/97

by Carlos Robles Piquer (PPE) to the Council

(23 October 1997)

Subject: Cyprus

The Commission(cid:146)s (cid:145)Agenda 2000(cid:146) (COM(97) 2000) dares to mention Cyprus, which is covered in more detail
than in the 1993 Commission opinion.

It  is  acknowledged  in  Agenda  2000,  however,  that  (cid:145)Efforts  since  then,  chiefly  under  UN  auspices,  to  work
towards a political settlement ... have not achieved much progress(cid:146).