, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers explore
ways and means of enhancing the role of businesses in respecting
and promoting human rights. The Committee of Ministers should in
particular consider:
2.1 preparing
a study on corporate responsibilities in the area of human rights,
taking into account in particular the case law of the European Court
of Human Rights and the decisions of the European Committee of Social
Rights;
2.2 examining the feasibility of elaborating a complementary
legal instrument, such as a convention or an additional protocol
to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5);
2.3 preparing a recommendation on corporate responsibility
in the area of human rights, possibly supplemented by flexible guidelines
for national authorities, businesses and other actors;
2.4 strengthening the supervisory mechanism of the revised
European Social Charter (ETS No. 163);
2.5 accelerating the modernisation of the Convention for the
Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of
Personal Data (ETS No. 108);
2.6 putting into place a reporting system on the social responsibilities
of businesses, either by establishing a Council of Europe labelling
mechanism or by delegating this task to an outside body using Council
of Europe human rights standards. Such a label would allow consumers
to make informed choices;
2.7 developing co-operation between the Council of Europe
and other international organisations, in particular the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, its National Contact
Points and the International Labour Organization, with a view to
promoting consolidation of coherent standards on corporate responsibilities
in the area of human rights.
