The code on corporate social responsibility (MVO Code) should be introduced into businesses’ governance code established in 2004 by Morris Tabaksblat. While the Tabaksblat code, which only applies to businesses listed on the stock exchange, only has a consultative range, some clauses of the MVO Code could have legal authority and come with sanctions, the detailed modalities of which are yet to be defined. Frank Heemskerk, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, wants CSR to be respected better, in preparation for what he calls “lasting globalization.” In 2008, the Secretary of State asked a former Unilever CEO, Antony Burgmans, to investigate possible legal way to make multinationals liable for abuses committed in their foreign subsidiaries without amending existing laws. According to the Burgmans report, published in November 2009, the current legal framework hardly allows proceedings since every case could lead to very different verdicts in the absence of a case law. Besides, major restrictions prevent possible legal proceedings. Indeed, in Dutch law, the plaintiff has to prove that the parent company had a “significant influence” over its foreign subsidiary accused.
l proceedings. Indeed, in Dutch law, the plaintiff has to prove that the parent company had a “significant influence” over its foreign subsidiary accused.
As part of the bill in the offing, the Parliament’s Committee on Economic Affairs consulted different roleplayers these past few weeks. A lobby group, called MVO Platform, composed of associations and unions, including Amnesty International and the Federation of Dutch Unions (FNV), was heard o January 14. this lobby pleads for the introduction
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